Follow Your Bliss
If you 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. Wherever you are - if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time.
Joseph Campbell
I found my bliss early in life in the back of my sister’s tap dance class. Reaching back into the body of my six year old self, it was a small effort to stand up and move forward onto the dance floor with my sister and the other girls but I remember it felt so big to me at the time, like discovering a secret treasure. I knew then that I had discovered something about myself. There was a clear, magical feeling within me that said yes, this is the right thing to do.
As a kid, you simply do the things you like to do. No real mystery to it. It wasn’t until much later that I learned that it’s ok for girls to dance and less ok for boys, but by the time I came to that understanding, it was too late. I had already been dancing for years and I loved to do it. When I put the feeling of dancing next to the thought of it not being ok, the feeling was much more real and that’s what I followed.
I loved to dance so much that I danced all over the place…in the driveway and the old folks home. I would drive my mother to distraction by dancing in the kitchen while she was trying to get dinner for eight on the table. It was a beautifully simple and unselfconscious time. I didn’t think about what I was doing because I was too busy enjoying myself.
As I got older, things changed. When the neighborhood boys turned out to see me perform at the school pumpkin sale one fall, I started getting bullied around the neighborhood and at school. I thought I would be the “star” of the neighborhood, but that was not the case. When I entered middle school, I had to quit dancing for awhile and withdrew to my room. By that time, dancing had became a big part of who I was. Life didn’t seem right when I wasn’t dancing. Sometimes, not following your bliss is as important as following your bliss. When you’re off track, you know it and when you come back into alignment with your bliss, you are rewarded with the relief of finding your way again.
In Bubba, the tap dancing rhythms are the indicator whether Bubba is on track or not. At the darkest part of the story, the steady rhythm is broken as Bubba quits dancing and leaves his path. The piece sags and the space becomes heavy with the absence of lighthearted tapping.
To follow your bliss, you have to know what your bliss is. Not everyone in every life finds their bliss. Sometimes life lessons are more general and we struggle with trials that seem less inspired. If you know what you love to do, you are very fortunate indeed. Many (or can I say most) people don’t have a specific passion in their lives and struggle to know which way to go in life. Whether its rock climbing or origami, when you find something that you enjoy doing so much that time stands still, that is your direction. You might have to try out a bunch of different activities before you land on fertile ground.
Although there were hard times, my life as a dancer has been a joyful, easy to follow adventure. By following my intuitive knowledge as a child, I trusted that each turn in the road would be shown to me by the same inner feelings. This turned out to be true and by listening to my intuition, I have been perfectly guided throughout my life. I am thankful for the gift of a life rich with friendships, culture, and not to mention many wonderful adventures.
Bubba, the Tap Dancer is an homage to my six year old self; that boy who found the path and the insight to follow an intangible feeling of personal truth. In the end, Bubba is redeemed by his journey and is welcomed home with honor. Although no one has come to shake my hand in congratulations for a life well lived, I know that by “following what was in my heart” my life has been lived in the way it was meant to be lived and I believe that has to be the greater honor.
If you would like to watch more Bubba, click here or here.
Joseph Campbell
I found my bliss early in life in the back of my sister’s tap dance class. Reaching back into the body of my six year old self, it was a small effort to stand up and move forward onto the dance floor with my sister and the other girls but I remember it felt so big to me at the time, like discovering a secret treasure. I knew then that I had discovered something about myself. There was a clear, magical feeling within me that said yes, this is the right thing to do.
As a kid, you simply do the things you like to do. No real mystery to it. It wasn’t until much later that I learned that it’s ok for girls to dance and less ok for boys, but by the time I came to that understanding, it was too late. I had already been dancing for years and I loved to do it. When I put the feeling of dancing next to the thought of it not being ok, the feeling was much more real and that’s what I followed.
I loved to dance so much that I danced all over the place…in the driveway and the old folks home. I would drive my mother to distraction by dancing in the kitchen while she was trying to get dinner for eight on the table. It was a beautifully simple and unselfconscious time. I didn’t think about what I was doing because I was too busy enjoying myself.
As I got older, things changed. When the neighborhood boys turned out to see me perform at the school pumpkin sale one fall, I started getting bullied around the neighborhood and at school. I thought I would be the “star” of the neighborhood, but that was not the case. When I entered middle school, I had to quit dancing for awhile and withdrew to my room. By that time, dancing had became a big part of who I was. Life didn’t seem right when I wasn’t dancing. Sometimes, not following your bliss is as important as following your bliss. When you’re off track, you know it and when you come back into alignment with your bliss, you are rewarded with the relief of finding your way again.
In Bubba, the tap dancing rhythms are the indicator whether Bubba is on track or not. At the darkest part of the story, the steady rhythm is broken as Bubba quits dancing and leaves his path. The piece sags and the space becomes heavy with the absence of lighthearted tapping.
To follow your bliss, you have to know what your bliss is. Not everyone in every life finds their bliss. Sometimes life lessons are more general and we struggle with trials that seem less inspired. If you know what you love to do, you are very fortunate indeed. Many (or can I say most) people don’t have a specific passion in their lives and struggle to know which way to go in life. Whether its rock climbing or origami, when you find something that you enjoy doing so much that time stands still, that is your direction. You might have to try out a bunch of different activities before you land on fertile ground.
Although there were hard times, my life as a dancer has been a joyful, easy to follow adventure. By following my intuitive knowledge as a child, I trusted that each turn in the road would be shown to me by the same inner feelings. This turned out to be true and by listening to my intuition, I have been perfectly guided throughout my life. I am thankful for the gift of a life rich with friendships, culture, and not to mention many wonderful adventures.
Bubba, the Tap Dancer is an homage to my six year old self; that boy who found the path and the insight to follow an intangible feeling of personal truth. In the end, Bubba is redeemed by his journey and is welcomed home with honor. Although no one has come to shake my hand in congratulations for a life well lived, I know that by “following what was in my heart” my life has been lived in the way it was meant to be lived and I believe that has to be the greater honor.
If you would like to watch more Bubba, click here or here.
posted by Louis at 11:17 AM
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