Defending Joseph Campbell

A friend of mine asked me to explain to him why Joseph Campbell is my guru. It was an interesting conversation. My friend has never read Campbell, but he has heard me describe the impact that Campbell’s work has had on my life. My friend was thinking along the lines of self-help authors like Stephen Covey.

I explained that Joseph Campbell wasn’t really setting out to help anyone that way. He was merely a scholar, a man who devoted his life to researching the things that pleased him most to think about. This is what I admire best about Joseph Campbell. That it turns out that he and I found joy in the same topics is just a blessing beyond measure. He is definitely a kindred spirit.

What I ultimately shared with my friend was the story of my life at the time I discovered Campbell’s work. I was very much a church going Bible believer of the most literal sort and I had no real grasp of the concept of metaphor. Sometimes I think it is difficult for any devout Christian to truly grasp and appreciate metaphor.

I was introduced to Joseph Campbell in a college literature course about the Grail Legends. Joseph Campbell is an authority on the Arthurian legends, something I have loved almost my entire life.

It was in listening to Joseph Campbell lectures that I discovered that essentially everything is metaphor. All we have are symbols and stories to give meaning to our existence. Everything, even our lives, is metaphor for the fundamental truths of the universe. We are merely reflections of something much greater than ourselves. I believe that we each incarnate to create a mythology out of the life we have been given. And the great thing about this mythology we create is that we get to be the hero in the story. We don’t have to be the victim in our own life story. We are the ones writing it.

What Joseph Campbell did for me was give me another way of looking at God. It was not long after studying his work that I quit thinking about God as an entity separate from myself. And I will tell you this, that one discovery has brought more joy into my life that any other thing I have figured out.

So, while I understand my friend’s skepticism if he was equating Joseph Campbell with Stephen Covey, in my mind the two are incomparable. Stephen Covey offers people helpful hints to be a more financially successful person, Joseph Campbell offers people the keys that unlock the mysteries of the universe.

It is my opinion that you can’t read Joseph Campbell’s work without becoming a little smarter.

Remember the Sabbath

Sunday seems a perfect day to write about taking it easy, having a day of rest.  All of the major religious traditions reserve one day of the week for rest and reflection.  It is such an important matter that these days of rest are set apart and declared holy.  It seems universally recognized that if you want to hear the voice of your God, in whatever form that takes, you have to slow down and participate as an active listener.

American culture does not seem to understand the concept of slowing down, being reflective and introspective, being responsive rather than reactive.  It’s unfortunate, but I believe as the demands and pressures continue to mount in the world, there will be increasing numbers of people who begin to understand why it is important to take a deep breath and slow down once in a while.  There is a very good reason to set aside a day each week and sanctify it.  It’s much like a tithe, only with time and energy instead of money.  The rewards for doing it are huge.

I think more Americans can answer the question What’s in your wallet than could tell us what’s in their heart.  I find that amazingly sad.

My holy day has always been Sunday.  Largely because of the influence of Christianity, but also the Monday through Friday work week.  Although my beliefs have changed over time, one constant is time spent in silence and contemplation.  I have always used this time as an opportunity to do things at a pace which allows me to reflect on life and the bigger picture.  I put things in order for the week ahead, but I do it at my own pace and in the way that feels best to me.  It’s a day off from rules, but not from discipline.

I sit here writing this, sipping coffee, having finished sorting through a box and throwing away things that should have never made it this far with me.  It feels good.  It feels like I am clearing the path for so many good things to come.  This period of quiet is the preparation for all that is coming.

The transition has happened.  The universe took a wrecking ball to my life and it has taken a while for me to become steady on my feet again and clean up the wreckage.  This feels like the last bit of the cleanup process.  It’s the part with the broom and dust pan, not the heavy equipment.

And I have many beautiful, quiet Sundays to thank for this.

When we embrace the quiet periods in our lives as a gift of regeneration, not a sign of being a loser, it’s possible to come back stronger and wiser for the next assignment.

Cheryl

As above, so below

 

This feels like a blog I can post if I can just stay with it long enough to get this thought out of my head and onto this page.

Starting a new blog is work.  Being obsessive about one’s writing makes it even more work.  Admittedly, I also have some personal characteristics that make focusing a challenge at times.  Still, I want this blog to be a positive experience, so I feel like I need to be a bit more specific about its purpose.

I want my writing to be based in spirituality and be about how to make the world healthier, happier and more kind.  What I’m finding is that I like writing about mundane details of day-to-day living.  But as I realized just this morning, therein lies my spirituality.  My whole existence is based on desire and intent to be fully present and have as much control over my mind as possible so, to the best of my ability, I will be able to bring only good to my experiences.  And what I have figured out so far is, it is not always clear on the surface how to do that.

How do we bring only good to life?  If it is even possible, is it too lofty a goal for a regular person just wishing to live a peaceful existence?  Questions like these make my life seem like some sort of cosmic social scientific experiment.

Which brings me to my blog’s purpose, as I understand it today.  This blog needs to be about seeing the spiritual big picture in the most mundane moments of life.  Because it’s always there.  To see it is a skill that develops with practice and is the source of the ability to think positively…or faith as it is also called.  While there is always opportunity for improvement, I see continuous progress in my life and I often feel a strong, spiritual force with me that helps me see things from many perspectives.

The idea to make this blog about the spiritual questions I encounter daily arises from some things that are happening in my world that make me have to think through, refine and clarify my beliefs.  Not in a dark, heavy way, but more of a quick run through my spiritual filter to check for inconsistencies.  I will write about those as they come up, so there should never be a shortage of topics.

I believe life is a series of questions for each of us to answer, with the composite of those answers being the foundation of our individual belief systems.  The questions do not always seem big on the surface, but that is one of the ways we are deceived by appearances.  Because things as small as asking yourself why it matters what kinds of household cleansers to use can seem unimportant, but when a billion people fail to ask that question, the earth suffers.

Peace and balance are what I seek for myself.  Remaining open to as many ways of seeing things as possible and staying ever present and aware are the tools I use to maintain equanimity.

I look forward to sharing my thoughts as life sends me the questions.

Cheryl

“Life is a mathematical equation…work it out on paper…keep a journal.” ~Me