Joseph Campbell is divine. Follow Your Bliss. The last line in Sinclair Lewis' Babbitt-"I have never done the thing that I wanted to in all my life." That is a man who never followed his bliss.
Joseph Campbell actually heard that line when he was teaching at Sarah Lawrence. Before he was married, he used to eat out in the restaurants of town for his lunch and dinner. One fine evening he was in his favorite restaurant there, and at the next table there was a father, a mother, and a scrawny boy about twelve years old. The father said to the boy, "Drink your tomato juice."
And the boy said, "I don't want to."
Then the father, with a louder voice, said, "Drink your tomato juice."
And the mother said, "Don't make him do what he doesn't want to do."
The father looked at her and said, "He can't go through life doing what he wants to do. If he does only what he wants to do, he'll be dead. Look at me. I've never done a thing I wanted to in all my life."
And Joseph Campbell thought, "My God, there's a Babbitt incarnate!"
What happens when you follow your bliss?
Joseph Campbell "You come to bliss." (Sanskrit-Ananda-means bliss or rapture).
This is the sense of the marriage vow--I take you in health or sickness, in wealth or poverty, not the wealth that you might bring me, not the social prestige, but you. That is following your Bliss.
Joseph Campbell actually heard that line when he was teaching at Sarah Lawrence. Before he was married, he used to eat out in the restaurants of town for his lunch and dinner. One fine evening he was in his favorite restaurant there, and at the next table there was a father, a mother, and a scrawny boy about twelve years old. The father said to the boy, "Drink your tomato juice."
And the boy said, "I don't want to."
Then the father, with a louder voice, said, "Drink your tomato juice."
And the mother said, "Don't make him do what he doesn't want to do."
The father looked at her and said, "He can't go through life doing what he wants to do. If he does only what he wants to do, he'll be dead. Look at me. I've never done a thing I wanted to in all my life."
And Joseph Campbell thought, "My God, there's a Babbitt incarnate!"
What happens when you follow your bliss?
Joseph Campbell "You come to bliss." (Sanskrit-Ananda-means bliss or rapture).
This is the sense of the marriage vow--I take you in health or sickness, in wealth or poverty, not the wealth that you might bring me, not the social prestige, but you. That is following your Bliss.
Joseph Campbell 'The Power of Myth' with Bill Moyers
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