The Freakonomicis guys, STEPHEN J. DUBNER and STEVEN D. LEVITT wrote an article in 2006 in the NY Times magazine called A Star Is Made.
In it, they discussed the research of Anders Ericsson, a 58-year-old
psychology professor at Florida State University. Here is a relevant
passage:
"Ericsson's research suggests a third cliché as well: when it comes to choosing a life path, you should do what you love — because if you don't love it, you are unlikely to work hard enough to get very good. Most people naturally don't like to do things they aren't "good" at. So they often give up, telling themselves they simply don't possess the talent for math or skiing or the violin. But what they really lack is the desire to be good and to undertake the deliberate practice that would make them better."See Never Too Late to Learn. It is a book review from Saturday's WSJ. The book reviewed was Guitar Zero by Gary Marcus. Here is the passage:
"Brain scans show that musicians' new neuronal connections vary according to the instrument they play. Violinists have their signature brain changes, brass players theirs. Loving what we do helps to form these new connections, because the same dopamine chemistry that gives us the pleasurable rush of reward consolidates new brain connections."Of course, mythologist Joseph Campbell said "follow your bliss."
What does it mean to follow your bliss? In general, it means three things:
C: My general formula is "Follow your bliss." Find where it is, and don't be afraid to follow it.
Elsewhere, Campbell says that the savior is the one who can transcend the pairs of opposites (Briggs & Maher, 1989, p. 45). This means going beyond the duality of individual and group that is stressed in socio-economics (Campbell 1988, p. 229):
C: Each incarnation has a potentiality, and the mission of the life is to live that potentiality. How do you do it? My answer is, "Follow your bliss." There's something inside you that knows when you're in the center, that knows when you're on the beam or off the beam. And if you get off the beam to earn money, you've lost your life. And it you stay in the center and don't get any money, you still have your bliss.
Finally, Leeming sums up the Jungian importance of myths:
The person who lives without myths lives without roots, without links to the collective self which is finally what we are all about. He is literally isolated from reality. The person who lives with a myth gains 'a sense of wider meaning' to his existence and is raised 'beyond mere getting and spending" (Leeming, 1973, p. 321).
2. If you follow your bliss, doors (opportunities) will open up for you where they would not have opened up before. They will also open up for you where they would not have opened up for anyone else (Cousineau, 1990, p. 214). This echoes one of Campbell's favorite writers, Goethe:
Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elemental truth-the ignorance of which skills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, the Providence moves, too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred (Catford & Ray, 1991, p. 5).
3. Following your bliss has to be contrasted with following a system or a social system. A system creates roles for us that are not of our own choosing. This dehumanizes us (Campbell, 1988, p. 143-144). The following is also dialogue between Joseph Campbell and Bill Movers from The Power of Myth (pp. 143-144):
M: Do movies create hero myths? Do you think, for example that a movie like Star Wars fills some of that need for a model of the hero?
In the movie Star Wars, Luke Skywalker turns off his computer (the impersonal system) and relies on the "Force" or his intuition to destroy the Death Star.
Generally speaking,
following your bliss unlocks your creative potential because you
separate from your community or system. "You can't have creativity
unless you leave behind the bounded, the fixed, all the rules" (Campbell,
1988, p. 156). Attaining the joy of being a creative, spiritually
fulfilled person is probably the best thing we can do for ourselves.
Sources:
Briggs, D., & Maher, J.M. (1989). An open life: Joseph Campbell in conversation with Michael Toms. New York: Harper and Row.
Campbell, J. (1988). The power of myth. New York: Doubleday.
Catford, L., & Ray, M. (1991). The path of the everyday hero. Los Angeles: Tarcher.
Cousineau, P. (1990). The hero's journey: Joseph Campbell on his life and work. San Francisco: Harper.
Leeming, D.A. (1973). Mythology: The voyage of the hero. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott.
Related posts:
Does Evolutionary Psychology Support Joseph Campbell's Belief In The Need For A World Mythology?
Adam Smith And Joseph Campbell On The Dangers Of "The Man Of System"
Joseph Campbell Meets Joseph Schumpeter (The Entrepreneur As Hero)
Adam Smith Meets Joseph Campbell
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