One of my favorite authors is Joseph Campbell (1904-1987). He spent his whole life studying mythology. He was also teaching and translating the meaning of messages that the myths communicate. His famous quote "Follow your bliss. Find where it is, and don't be afraid to follow it" inspired me tremendously.
I was already following my bliss. I knew where my passion was, I already had that burning need to "fulfill my bliss", and seeing Bill Moyers's conversation with Joseph Campbell on TV, only assured me that this is what I should be doing. It gave me the strength.
"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. - wrote Joseph Campbell.
That was all true. I have experienced my bliss, and it is an incredible feeling, however I also have experienced that in our contemporary, fast changing world, and unstable economy, the bliss no longer just works, if you just follow it.
I was following my bliss as an artist. I worked very hard and I did everything I could... until I run out of the resources. The momentum and the power of creation came to hold, and the reality hit me very, very hard. The reality is: the artists are unprepared to survive in the contemporary times. The artists don't get any education regarding business aspect of creating art. While the colleges and universities design their curriculum to develop individuals' abilities as the artists and performing artists, it is my experience and observation that the artists are unprepared to function in the modern society.
I realized that it is up to me to make my bliss work. I realized that in our contemporary times the artists have to be smarter and more educated, and even more creative. Artists have to learn the business aspect of art making. In our contemporary times it is a necessity for the artists to manage, market, and sell the art, and on the top of it, we need to be aware of the contemporary economic issues. We no longer have the luxury of working in our studios and being oblivious of the outside world.
I know that this is not easy. Creating art already takes up all of our time and passion, and adding anything else is overwhelming, but necessary to make the bliss work. I personally took some business classes such as accounting, economics, statistics and math, just to make sure that I am able to keep my bliss in motion... so, my friend do what you need to do... and "Follow your Bliss".
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