The Art of Living Authentically
…or, “How to follow your bliss.”
Living authentically. I call it an art rather than a science, as it’s changeable, it’s flowy, and while it can be measurable, the measurements are subjective.
We can journal and meditate to try and find our authentic selves. We can read books and listen to speakers tell us about their authentic experiences. But until we actually begin LIVING our own authentic life, it doesn’t actually exist.
It’s sort of like performance art… the art occurs and is experienced when the action happens. When we take that first step into our authenticity, we begin living our authentic life.
Joseph Campbell told us to “follow our bliss”.
I first heard about Joseph Campbell after being introduced to The Power of Myth in the early 1990’s. His writings and ideas on the mythologies within the human experience and the hero’s journey started me on a journey of exploring belief systems and how they affect us throughout our lives and continue to affect generations that follow us.
While “follow your bliss” became a catch phrase for many in the expanding self help industry, it means so much more. Following your bliss isn’t just about doing what makes you happy… it’s about discovering what makes you “whole” and “unique” from everyone else.
When you can tap into that bliss, those things that make you feel whole and content in everything you do, and apply those things to your daily life, you will begin to experience your authentic self.
As coaches, we generally try to help you find happiness and success in one aspect of your life or another. But I believe there’s more… so much more.
I believe, as Joseph Campbell did, that we are much more complex than just the day to day activities that make us happy. We are influenced by the mythos and archetypes of all of civilization that came before us.
By piecing together these themes and stories from the past and seeing how we experience the same themes in our lives, we can apply the lessons and learn who we are and how we fit into the current narrative of society. And when we understand who we are in that current narrative, we can follow our own authentic path and become the piece that fits into the unique space in the grand puzzle that only we can fill.
While we can look to science and evolution for some of our answers as to who we are and why we’re here, we also need to look to religion, astrology, mythology, archetypes, and other more esoteric tools to truly discover where we fit in and how we effectively function as individuals. And THEN when we apply this collective knowledge of all the bits and pieces to ourselves as individuals we can live in our own unique authenticity each and every day.
The fun is in exploring and discovering the pieces that make up you and bringing those pieces to life in how you live using your gifts throughout your day to day life. It’s in discovering and applying and living these integral parts, without letting the opinions of others influence you, that you can bring your authentic self to the table and offer that to the world.
Would you like to be more clear on what your own authentic life looks like? Does “following your bliss” seem to be an elusive “ideal” that is just out of reach? Schedule a free discovery call with me and together we will begin to reveal your authentic life and how you can start living it today!