A few weeks ago, I saw this photo of these two darlings and couldn’t help but smile at the juxtaposition of expression. The little girl actually reminds me of my friend Georgetta who views the world with heart and eyes wide open as she takes it all in and then scatters the love back out. Now, keep in mind that she is a grandmother, therapist, addictions counselor, who in close succession completed her under grad, grad and doctoral studies while holding down a full time job in a psychiatric hospital and caring for her elderly and quite delightful mother who recently passed. She would regale us with “Lola stories” that kept us smiling broadly too. Georgetta lives her bliss.  The little boy is no less blissfilled, just experiencing it perhaps in a quieter more introspective manner.

We are taught that bliss looks a certain way, with a yahhoooooo-jumping-up-and-down-like-a-kid-on-a-pogo-stick energy, when it can also be still and silent. Some of my most bliss-filled experiences have come when sitting in meditation, walking in Nature, engaged in yoga practice or eye gazing with a Beloved.  I invite you to take a moment and recall a blissful experience; perhaps in the presence of someone else, or solo. Make it full sensory, as you touch, taste, smell, hear and see everything around you. Drink it in….sluuuurrrpp….  Where are you feeling the sensations connected with your full immersion? Allow the physical and emotional to merge so that you don’t know where each begins and ends. Now carry that with you throughout your day. Any time you are tempted to find yourself (or lose yourself) becoming distracted, overwrought or frustrated, tap into the well you have just filled to overflowing with refreshment.

Make a Bliss List. What items, experiences and people are on it?

Mine includes:

Dancing, drumming, singing, reading, writing, yoga, working out,listening to music,  meditation, chanting (kirtan), time with loved ones, exploring nature, chocolate, travel, massage, attending and teaching transformational workshops, connecting with kindred spirits, learning new things about life, the universe and everything.

Joseph Campbell encouraged all to “Follow your bliss.” I invite you to BYOB-Be Your Own Bliss…your style, your way, ever evolving in exquisite spirals of light and color, out into the cosmos~

http://youtu.be/LF-HquxImgg Follow Your Bliss by Bryan Rason