COACH MINDA
  • AT A GLANCE
  • SPECIALITIES
  • - Personal Challenges
  • - Work Challenges
  • - Well-Being
  • CONTACT
  • BLOG
  • TESTIMONIALS
  • CAREER HISTORY
  • ACHIEVEMENTS
  • GLOSSARY
  • AGREEMENT & QUESTIONNAIRE
  • WORKSHOP questionnaire
  • AT A GLANCE
  • SPECIALITIES
  • - Personal Challenges
  • - Work Challenges
  • - Well-Being
  • CONTACT
  • BLOG
  • TESTIMONIALS
  • CAREER HISTORY
  • ACHIEVEMENTS
  • GLOSSARY
  • AGREEMENT & QUESTIONNAIRE
  • WORKSHOP questionnaire
Call for an appointment (514) 791- 4506
Coach Minda's

BLOG

    Sign up for my blog
Notify Me
'> Picture
These blogs are a way to share my thoughts and insights with you. Feel free to comment and share.

Follow your bliss

12/12/2015

8 Comments

 
Picture
A few random clicks on the net and there I was reading an article about a book I'd heard about but had no plans to read: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo. A few paragraphs into the article, which covered the book's theme of purging belongings, I came across the magical catchphrase of Joseph Campbell, Follow your bliss.

This had great meaning for me, because it marked a turning point in my life.

Many clients come to see me when they are itchy to change careers but don't know what to do next. For many, the stress of not knowing what to do creates internal surges of high volume noise and pressure followed by mean-spirited self-directed reprimands: "What do you want to do? Why can't you figure it out? Why don't you know?"

While a few people do know what they want, and can plan the way there, most of us don't have a clue. 

Fortunately, I do not worry about what I should do. But I once did. Even if I was happy with my work, I assumed there was something else I was supposed to do. And that something else would be much better than what I was already happy doing!  If only someone would just tell me what to do...

When coaching I try to avoid giving too much advice, believing clients benefit most when they come to their own conclusions.  But years ago I was liberated from concerns about what I should be doing and whether I was doing the right things with my life due to a small but meaningful piece of advice.

I was lamenting about being at a crossroads in my life and needing to make a decision. I was under the impression that whatever decision I made would have far-reaching consequences.  If I didn't make the right decision, things might go badly. As I was going on and on, I was told in a soothing manner, "Why don't you follow your bliss?"

It was exactly the advice I needed.

Coming across those words in the article reminded me of their influence on my attitude. "Follow your bliss" gave me the permission and freedom to give into not knowing and, with this, I felt free of the noise and pressure that had been building inside. I no longer chastised myself for not knowing. 

So I left the article about The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up  and found this:

"... if you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in your field of bliss, and they open doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be." - Joseph Campbell

Follow your bliss and, while you're at it, tidy up!
Coach Minda


Without clients, there would be no Coach Minda.  I want to thank you for your business, your referrals and for sharing so much with me.  And thank you blog readers for your contributions and comments on the www.coachminda.com website.

  • If you are a satisfied client, please refer me to friends and colleagues or write a testimonial
  • If you like my blogs, please “like”, “share” and “tweet”
  • Visit my Coach Minda Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/CoachMinda
  • Write a review on YELP: http://www.yelp.ca/biz/coach-minda-westmount
8 Comments
Catherine link
13/12/2015 10:13:04 am

Loved you blog on following your bliss.I think we all know when something needs to change.and although it may not feel like it, we know the answer to what we need.The scary part is accepting that and being ready to put up with the discomfort of change.As T.S. Eliot once wrote, "We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time".

Reply
Minda link
14/12/2015 09:10:40 am

Yes, discomfort of change - this is well put. I very much like the quote you included by T.S Elliot. Thank you Catherine

Reply
Michael
13/12/2015 11:30:23 pm

I like the expression follow your bliss. There is another expression which people often use which is follow your passions or follow your heart. I have found this useful and not useful. Useful is that your passions are backed up by energy and drive. Not useful when it means that you do crazy, irrational things like lose all you money on bad business ideas (yes I have been there, though in the end, I guess the passion led to good businesses too). What I like about follow your bliss is that it finds the quiet part of passions and heart that gives pleasure and is perhaps somewhat more stable/enduring. Related to this, I think, it is very important for people to bite off as much of their fantasies as they can as often fantasies drive our behaviours but when we taste them we are able to better fine-tune what part of the fantasy was our bliss and should be our north star.
Thanks Coach Minda for this and all your fantastic blogs

Warren

Reply
Minda link
14/12/2015 09:17:20 am

I agree with your useful/not useful ideas around passions and appreciate the idea too of testing out of various fantasies to better fine-tune what part of the fantasy was our bliss and should be our north star. Very good advice. Instead of asking ourselves what is our passion we can just say, what can I do with my time that is important to me? It might take off the pressure. Thanks Michael

Reply
Judy
14/12/2015 05:58:56 pm

Thank you for your "follow your bliss" blog.

At first, I thought "Oh yeah, that saying again…you know, the one that seems to have found its way onto fridge magnets and pillows" but then I read your full blog and, strangely enough, I had this image of you receiving that advice and then, suddenly I got it…

"Follow your bliss" allows you, strangely, to live in the present moment. I think it somehow allows you to know that SO MUCH is under your control and, at the same time, that SO MUCH is not within your control and somehow, this SIMULTANEOUS knowing gives freedom and leads to happiness.

Following your bliss means that you have to connect to who you are right now to know WHAT your bliss is…and to FOLLOW it, you have to just think about what's next and not 80 steps down the road. It's a marvellous piece of advice about listening to both yourself and the Universe intently and realizing that your self's expression is more important than the noise.

Reply
Miriam
15/12/2015 08:52:52 am

At first I thought this topic didn't really interest me. Then I read the comments, and realized I must have missed something, so I read the blog again. Two thoughts - I think, for me, the phrase "make room for your bliss", while not as catchy as "follow your bliss", works better. Of course it's not always realistic to follow your bliss, but to make room for it, or accept it, can usually enrich us and help us grow. The other thought, and I'm not sure how relevant it is, is something the late Psychiatrist and all-round interesting and creative person, Milton Erickson said when he was asked what one-work advice he would give to beginning therapists. He said "Dare", which I think relates to our fear of change and of making room for, or following our bliss.

Reply
Minda Miloff link
15/12/2015 09:28:37 am

Thanks for reading the blog again and providing 'make room for your bliss and dare!' Works for me Miriam

Reply
miriam
15/12/2015 09:09:53 am

Re above comment from me - third line from the bottom, that should read "one-word" advice. I know, I know, I should take more time to read over my comments.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Tweet
    View my profile on LinkedIn

    My family, relationships, movement, nature,  flexibility of mind, exploration of  alternative perspectives & openness are central to my life. 

    Archives

    April 2025
    February 2025
    August 2024
    December 2021
    March 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    February 2020
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    May 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013


Private and confidential

  • ​In Person, by Phone, Skype, Zoom or WhatsApp
  • Day, evening and weekend spots
Picture

Connect with me

  • (514) 791-4506
  • [email protected]
  • www.coachminda.com
  • Coach Minda FB
  • Psychology Today
  • Ezine articles

​
  • AT A GLANCE
  • SPECIALITIES
  • - Personal Challenges
  • - Work Challenges
  • - Well-Being
  • CONTACT
  • BLOG
  • TESTIMONIALS
  • CAREER HISTORY
  • ACHIEVEMENTS
  • GLOSSARY
  • AGREEMENT & QUESTIONNAIRE
  • WORKSHOP questionnaire