The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur

March 1The Bliss You Live

Is bliss, then, such abyss / I must not put my foot amiss / For fear I spoil my shoe? // I'd rather suit my foot / Than save my boot, / For yet to buy another pair / Is possible / At any fair. // But bliss is sold just once; / The patent lost / None buy it anymore.

Emily Dickinson—“Life” from Collected Poems (1855)

Sometimes these readings and reflections can seem a tad overly dramatic.

But think about this: have you known people who quit something that was meaningful to them only to never truly let it go? Some aspect of it ate away at their bliss endlessly. That's kind of serious, isn't it?

Self-reliant entrepreneurs understand their bliss and pursue it.

However, pursuing your bliss is not a license to do as you please; it's an admission that there's only one path for you and you have no choice but to give yourself fully to it.

In 1988, American mythologist and writer Joseph Campbell conducted a series of interviews for PBS, and upon airing, the term “Follow Your Bliss” became a catchphrase. In one segment Campbells states that “if you do 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.”

Sure, you'll likely put your foot and head and hand and surely your heart along the way, but if bliss is redeemed just once, might it be worth it?

Challenge Question

1. What is the risk of not following your dream?