The college I attended was a liberal arts school and in addition to our major, we had to take classes in all kinds of subjects. It never made sense then but as time has gone on, I have seen the impact of such an education.
One year, I had to take a course in religion and that is where I learned about Joseph Campbell who was a professor of mythology. He was the one who coined the phrase “follow your bliss” and he also served as a creative advisor for the Star Wars movie series back in the seventies and eighties.
The professor of the class had us watch one of the episodes of The Power of Myth series that Joseph Campbell produced with Bill Moyers. The focus of the episode was on the heroic journey that we all must take in life. As I remember it, here is a paraphrase of what Campbell said: “the hero departs on his quest only to descend down into trials and tribulations after which he returns to where he started but all the wiser”. That portion of the episode is one that I have never forgotten. It spoke to my soul at that time although I had no idea why.
Now all these years later, I have noticed why it resonated with my soul. I realized that I have gone on my own version of that heroic journey. I would not consider myself a hero or heroine but I did go on my quest through many difficult times, only to return to where I was before my journey. And yes, I do feel wiser than I did back in 1997 which is when I began to go on my spiritual journey.
The interesting thing is that Campbell did not say what happens to the hero after he returns to where he started even though he is much wiser. It is kind of like the fairy tales we are told. We never know what happens after the wonderful ending. We learn about the journey and the resolution of the journey but never the aftermath. This is the stage that I currently find myself on and I have to tell you it is absolutely amazing.
I am currently thirty-seven years young. I have spent thirty-two years searching for happiness. I never thought about what would happen after I became happy. I figured that being happy was enough. Goes to show you how little we humans know. Getting to the destination is one thing, going forward from there is a completely different experience.
This realization has been on my mind for the last two weeks. Initially, I had no idea what was happening. All I know is that my soul was trying to tell me something but I had difficultly listening. When you reach a new level of looking at life, what used to work doesn’t so you develop new ways of thinking. I have no idea how it happens but it does. Somehow you cannot cheat yourself as well as you used to because now you know better.
So two days ago, I was sitting at my desk, thinking about nothing in particular while looking at the pink Gerbera Daisy plant that sits on top of my printer, when it hit me. I was finally able to put into words what my soul was trying so hard to tell me. What it said was so simple, I was shocked. She simply said; “it is no more about you but everyone else.”
There comes a point in the journey of life where you realize that there is a responsibility to stop adding pain and suffering to the world. There comes a point when you realize that the time has come to help make the world a more beautiful place by whatever talents and skills you are blessed to possess. We each have talents and skills that can add to the beauty of the world. The world is our canvas.
In the words of Albert Einstein: “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”
I have read numerous biographies and I have seen this trend in each person that I have come to admire. We all start out wanting to feel better about who we are and when we reach some level of inner peace, our focus switches to those around us. Someone who is in pain cannot help another until they have come to terms with their own pain.
Although I have this awareness now as to what is happening within me, I still have no idea how to proceed except to share this process with all of you as I experience it because that feels like the right thing to do. Have no worries, there will still be posts on my past journey and the lessons I have learned but be prepared for more about my current journey and lessons also. In my mind, it would be a disservice not to share what is happening in my life. I hope you will join me as I continue on with this wonderful journey called life!
One more thing - if you ever have any suggestions for posts or questions, please feel free to contact me via the contact form.
{ 39 comments }
This is absolutely beautiful, and reminds me of a quote from Nisargadatta that I heard last week: “When I look inside and see that I’m nothing, that’s wisdom. When I look outside and see that I’m everything, that’s love. And between those two, my life turns.”
This life is ultimately about being of service to the world. We do that (I feel) by serving ourselves and reaching a point of stability first, and then by looking outside of us and seeing that we are connected to everyone and everything — and choosing to serve all that is.
~ Many blessings ~
Megan “JoyGirl!” Bord’s most recent blog post..Success As A Process, Not A Destination
Hi Megan!
I love the quote from Nisargadatta. Everything is truly love…how I wish more people would see that reality. Thank you so much for sharing that quote with all of us.
Einstein was a smart guy
I’m starting to realize that living for others is a very good way of living for yourself. Loving other people is too rewarding to feel like it’s any kind of sacrifice.
I’m hearing more and more about Joseph Campbell tool; maybe it’s a sign.
David Cain’s most recent blog post..You Are the Greatest Story Ever Told
Hi David!
Joseph Campbell was an amazing man. He was the person who coined the phrase “follow your bliss”. His life was pretty interesting too.
Finding happiness, finding inner peace, that’s certainly a quest worth undertaking. The journey can be confusing. But once you have made the journey yourself, then you can go back, and lead others along the path safely. That’s one way to proceed. The heroine stops being an adventurer, blazing new trails, but becomes a guide to others who wish to travel those same trails.
Jay Schryer’s most recent blog post..30 Day Challenge: Mindful Meditation
Hi Jay,
You are right that one path to take from having gone on a quest is to take the knowledge learned and share it with others. That is my intention too.
At fifty years young I have finally found a useful way to return to others what Divinity has provided to me. It’s not wisdom, nor directions but a way to help each individual look inside. Joseph Campbell does this. Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Mother Teresa are but of few of the great persons who graced this planet and took the time, the care to help others look inside. The world is a changing place and it is gradually becoming spiritual, as in the past. A place where more and more people look to their inner life. What is outside has been found lacking. The inner journey that we all must make is starting on a global level and the inhabitants are transforming quickly. Some thirty five years ago I thought I was strange, the odd one out of the crowd because I was lucky enough to have been shown the path early. When I look around today I see so many soul’s remembering the light, the path and the way home. A blog like this would never have seen the light of day thirty, even twenty years ago and now it is more than acceptable practice to discuss divinity. I thank you for this.
PS. I always enjoy your blogs.
Hi Beltane!
Welcome to Happy Lotus! Thank you so much for sharing your experience and I am so happy that you were shown the path early! You are right, discussing divinity and spirituality are very common place now. I think so many people around the world are looking for answers on the inside because obviously the outside world has been lacking in providing answers.
I am also grateful to know that you always enjoy my blog. Thank you so much!
Nadia,
This is a beautiful post!
Helping others is the only path to lasting happiness. Since I’ve been following you and your blog for awhile, I know how rapidly you blog has grown. It’s clear it’s helping many others and will also help the many new readers you’ll rapidly gather. Please keep up the great work.
Love,
Roger
Roger – A Content Life’s most recent blog post..Beware of False Kindness
Hi Roger!
Thank you so much for the support regarding my blog and for all the kinds words.
I will do what I can to keep up the good work too!
Beautiful, Nadia. But it seems to me, that you already have been helping others (me.) I find so much inspiration from you every morning. You are a beautiful soul.
Hi Kirwin,
So how was your Mother’s Day? I hope you had a nice one!
Thank you so much for the compliments and you are a beautiful soul too. Don’t you ever forget it! 
Hey, Nadia! This reminds me of how so many of us grew up viewing marriage as a destination. We all wanted to find our Prince Charming, and we planned every detail of our perfect wedding in our heads. Some even went on to have that fairy tale wedding day… but then what? Everyone looks forward to the wedding but not many plan for the marriage. I guess your same lesson applies in marriage… when it stops being about ME, and it starts being about how I can make my partner’s life better; then we find the marriage we hoped we would have.
As for happiness… you are right. Once you find it, and know what it feels like, the only way to STAY happy is to help others get there. You are certainly doing your part on that mission.
Thanks!
Lisis’s most recent blog post..Adventure: Find YOUR Path, Come What May
Hi Lisis,
You are absolutely right about how so many people view marriage as a destination and do not realize it is a journey too. That is why I entitled this post “Happily Ever After” because we all know the phrase from fairy tales and what it represents.
This is a beautiful post, Nadia, rich in so many things. I have come to see this journey in, journey out in my own life in the imagery of the labyrinth. When I was last in the States, I walked the labyrinth at my church and at a local monastery many times, and its power and significance often calmed me and granted me perspective. Thank you for sharing this post. (I love that you were looking at gerbera daisy when you had your epiphany, too).
Chania Girl’s most recent blog post..Happiness 101
Hi Chania!
I knew you would appreciate the Gerbera daisy being part of the story!
As for walking labyrinth’s, I have heard a lot about them and I know that the imagery of it can be very profound. I have never walked one but I know so many people have had profound experiences while walking the labyrinth. I think so many of us want to feel calm and once we feel calm, we can see our lives more clearly. I guess walking the labyrinth helps do bring about that calm. Very cool! 
Really great post! It was such a joy to read and really made me think (which I love!). The title of the post reminds me of what I am trying to do, which is live happily ever after now. Happily ever after isn’t somewhere in the future. It’s right now. And you really make some great points that relate to this in this post. Loved it!
Positively Present’s most recent blog post..the power of adversity: a book review
“Although I have this awareness now as to what is happening within me, I still have no idea how to proceed except to share this process…”
Very nicely said. In the process of awakening, once, we get into the flow of awareness, all we have to do is get out of the way. Getting out of way is a little tricky. Until I learned that, there was detachment, apathy, and confusion.
Thanks for the great insight.
Kaushik’s most recent blog post..Mother’s Day – saluting the strength of women
Hi Kaushik!
Getting out the way is the thing to do but it is easier said than done!
I look forward to you sharing your journey. A great moment for me was when I began to see the same divine message in all the places I searched. It is so reassuring to see The Message at work everywhere all the time. It certainly influenced how I journey.
Paisley’s most recent blog post..Dreams Are Green And So Is Money
Hi Paisley!
Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I am always amazed that we all reach the same conclusion once we go on our quest for meaning. It is great to know that we are all on the right track!
Hey Nadia
Just wanted to let you know how great it is that you’ve reached the place of peace and begun the process of sharing. From where I am, yours seems like an incredible achievement.
I have a hundred or more questions to ask you about your way and the learning, but am sure you will share them in posts to follow. So for now, God bless and keep shining
Love
Uzma
Hi Uzma!
You are so sweet…thank you for all that you wrote. I will share as much as I can with my posts and if you ever have a specific question, please do not hesitate to contact me. We are all in this ride together! God bless you too, my friend!
Hi Nadia
I love this post. I remember how mesmerized I was by Campbell when I first saw the Bill Moyer’s interviews with him on PBS in 1988. I immediately went out and bought The Power of Myth. This Christmas a loved one gave me three Joseph Campbell CDs — The Power of Myth, The Hero’s Journey, and Sukhavati. My contention that fiction/myth holds the greatest truth is probably derived from Campbell’s ability to explain archetypes. I once thought you were a goddess archetype, but now I’m leaning more toward the priestess. It’s something akin to High Church that you are doing here.
Much love,
Brenda
Hi Brenda,
I totally agree with you about how mesmerizing Campbell was in those series of interviews. He struck me as being really happy and at peace which were two qualities that my life was totally lacking in at the time. He truly seemed to have found his bliss and he was brilliant at explaining archetypes.
As for whether being a goddess or priestess, either one is an honor. So thank you so much for thinking so highly of me and for being the loving person that you are.
Gerbera daisies my favorite. Fits perfect with your realization. I think you already “knew” this and you also “do” this. I think your inspirations and insights came because you needed to tell others what you know. Great post!
Tess The Bold Life’s most recent blog post..Monday Magic Freebie Cheryl Richardson’s New Book
Hi Tess,
I am always to know another Gerbera daisy fan…people usually like such flowers are optimistic and soulful people.
You made an interesting point about needing to tell others what I know. I think you are right about that. Thank you for sharing. Hope you had a great Mother’s Day!
Beautiful post you have Nadia!
Insight is deep, is it not? My experience has been that the same message can be repeating itself externally but the knowing only becomes real and deep when the light bulb goes off in our head. It’s also as if there is this inner voice. I’m glad that you are able to hear what your soul has been trying to tell you. It seems that you are evolving beautifully!
Evelyn Lim’s most recent blog post..What Do You See if You Are Standing Next to God?
Hi Evelyn,
Thank you so much for the compliment. It means so much and I do believe that there is an inner voice in all of us. Unfortunately it gets drowned out by fear but when we are at peace and feel calm, we can hear it much more clearly.
When the student is ready the teacher will come….I have watched the whole Joseph Campbell tapes and enjoy sharing them, though they are on VHS and many do not have players any more.
I think we all wish to be the enlightened one, I am tired of being the servant the Martha…but that is what we all are the teacher/the servant to the energy, the path, the lessons of happiness..
Serve everyone…what a task!
Patricia’s most recent blog post..I Love Flowers
Hi Patricia,
I am a big believer that when the student is ready, the teacher will come. It is so true and yes, we are all the teacher/servant…it is a pretty good gig!
I would like to share one of my very favorite quotes – and one I hope that I am living toward:
“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children … to leave the world a better place … to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Like you, Nadia, this is something that has recently taken on new meaning for me. Not that I’ve had anything profound happen. Really that I’m aware so much more of this thought in my life, and why it’s important to me.
So, I very much look forward to your journey forward, seeing where this all leads you to. Your soul is speaking volumes to just the true person you are Nadia, and it’s a beautiful picture being painted on that canvas.
Lance’s most recent blog post..As Close To Eden As You’ll Get
Hi Lance,
The quote you wrote is one of my all time favorites. Emerson was such an amazing person and writer.
I am not surprised that this topic is something which has taken on a new meaning to you. I think we all reach that point along our journey.
Just as we interface w/this universe along what we consider a timeline, we are all journeying together & so I envision each person being placed on that line at birth to join the fray til death parts us. So many travel quite (& sadly) oblivious to their vast array of fellow travelers & too many are just along for the ride but many do wander fantastically off course. It’s in the detours, stumbles, wrong turns, wayward explorations, & myriad pathways winding in & around the relative flow of the masses that we
finddefine ourselves. Once we do, we’re eager to rejoin the throng for we now know just how many people we’re meant to meet, help & be helped by; our path remains uniquely our own but never again do we travel alone.Hmm, I may have to turn the above into a poem. Thanx for prompting me to finally express it.
Meanwhile, a tho’t on marriage: as my hunny quoted in his proposal to me, “Don’t marry the person you think you can live with; marry only the individual you think you can’t live without.” (James Dobson) Tis true of friendships too &, for that matter, habits as well. 
Finally, the Emerson quote Lance shared is also an absolute favorite of mine! Definitely words to live by.
(|_|*cheers*|_|)
“When we’re struggling — be it financially, physically or psychologically — we tend to think we can limit the collateral damage by withdrawing. The reality is that we can’t make progress from that inward stance & those who are invested in us are already along for the ride. Whatever our progress or lack thereof, if we remember we’re not traveling alone, won’t we want to make the most of the trip?” (from my current post)
Dorian aka coffeesister |_|)’s most recent blog post..YOU so silly!
Hi Dorian!
Welcome to Happy Lotus! I am happy you found your way over here!
I think you should turn that first paragraph into a poem. As I told Lance in my reply to his comment, that Emerson quote is one of my favorites because I think we often equate success with money and power and never with how we lived.
I also loved the piece you shared from your current post. Life sure is a fantastic ride!
Really wonderful Nadia. You capture so much wisdom and beauty in this post.
“There comes a point in the journey of life where you realize that there is a responsibility to stop adding pain and suffering to the world.”
So true! Wouldn’t it be great there was a formula for bringing about that point? But I guess we all need to arrive there on our own paths, in our own way. What makes me sad sometimes is realising how many people suffer on the way or never arrive at that point. Maybe this article could make a difference to some of them. I can only hope.
Ian | Quantum Learning’s most recent blog post..How are you?
Hi Ian,
I know what you mean about wanting more people to realize that they can stop adding pain and suffering to the world. I hold that desire too. However, being the optimistic person that I am, I do think eventually more and more people will wake up to that reality. The world cannot get any worse and I think on some level many people see that fact.
I’m glad we’re sharing our journeys – we were meant to be travelling companions and destined to become friends along the way. Wonderful, heartfelt post. Thank you.
janice’s most recent blog post..Hyacinths and Silence
Hi Janice,
I think you are absolutely right, my friend. Then again, you usually are!