Work is a call to adventure

Quotes About Vocation

Image courtesy of khunaspix / FreeDigitalPhotos.net “Your profession is not what brings home your paycheck. Your profession is what you were put on earth to do. With such passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling.” ~  Vincent Van Gogh  “Work is love made visible.” ~ Kahlil Gibran  “We work to become, not to […]

A Fool Such As I

“For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.”  (1 Cor. 1:25) Two years ago, at just about this time of year, I was preparing to take the Propaedeuticum — or Stage 1 exams — at the Jung Institute of Boston. This set of exams […]

The Dream of One’s Life

Here is a nice little promotional video by mythologist Michael Meade for his book, Fate and Destiny: The Two Agreements of the Soul. I am not yet familiar with that book, but I have read his book The Water of Life and the anthology of poetry that he edited with Robert Bly and James Hillman.  I have also heard Meade speak. He is an engaging storyteller and his work is well worth knowing.

Some take away quotes from the video:

"The question isn't, 'Do I have a calling?'  The question is,  'Have I heard it?'"

"One of our key responsibilities in life -- separate from career, separate from family, separate from anything else -- is to live out [our] dream, to respond to [our] calling, and to unfold our life from within."

Here is the video:

Follow Your Bliss

Here is a video of David Kudler, publishing director of the Joseph Campbell Foundation, remembering the impact of the Power of Myth series with Campbell and Bill Moyers. Kudler reminds us that there was a time when the phrase "Follow Your Bliss" was not found on anyone's refrigerator. It is a reminder of the deep value of the idea of following your bliss, which is not an easy path but rather a challenging and rewarding journey.

As I often point out in my talks on How To Hear Your Calling, Campbell is not talking about basking in the glow of pain-free, trouble-free happiness and light.  His formula was not “dwell in your bliss”, but “follow your bliss,” that is, risk the adventure of following the call of your deepest self.

Looking into the future

The Value of Limits

Image courtesy of graur razvan ionut / FreeDigitalPhotos.net I read a lovely passage on the value of limitations, written by Parker Palmer. As someone who tends to be a bit of a puer (the eternal youth), I can easily dream of infinite possibilities, but struggle with the down-to-earth finite practicalities, which are born of limitation. […]

Happiness, Success, and the Soul

Positive Psychology is an approach to psychology that seeks to understand what factors are at work in healthy states. It seeks to make a scientific understanding of things like happiness, taking the position that happiness is not the absence of unhappiness, but a positive state that can be cultivated and increased. Recently I was directed […]

“We Are The Great Danger”

This quote showed up several times in my Twitter feed recently: “The only thing we have to fear on this planet is man.” ~ C.G. Jung This was a frequent theme for Jung later in his life, particularly after having witnessed the horrors of the first and second world wars. Here is a clip of […]