The Law of Atraction, Bliss Versus Joy, and Jack Daniels fueled Makeout Sessions.

I came across something interesting in a book a friend of mine gave me the other day.

The book, first of all, is not something I would normally pick up, it's about "The Law of Attraction." Basically, for anyone who doesn't know, the Law of Attraction states that like attracts like...If you're thinking good thoughts, you reach a certain levelof vibration that brings good stuff to you. Ok. I'm sure anyone who would read this blog has seen "The Secret," or at least heard of it, but I've always actually believed in this theory, or law, or maxim. I don't see how anyone who goes around complaining, bitching, and griping constantly can bring or allow anything good to happen. If something good should come their way, they are certain to find something equally distressing or upsetting going on, and turn their attention towards that.

So I think that yes, the "law of attraction" makes sense on a lot of levels, that the more you think of or expect a good outcome, the better off things tend to go, or at least, the better your perception of things will be.

So what I was read had to do with the "law" on one level, and with the way I perceive things on another...and it made me think about how much the expression of an idea can affect the way the idea is perceived.

You've probably heard that Joseph Campbell famously said "Follow your bliss." I've always heard it, and always thought it was a dangerous statement. What if one's bliss is let's just say, having 7 or 8 Jack and Cokes, getting completely wasted, and making out with a strange guitar player in the bathroom at Don Hill's? It sounds fun on some kind of rock star on a bender hypothetical level, but not necessarily good for either party. But if one is following her bliss, shouldn't that be ok? If one is thinking positive thoughts, it will all work out fine, right? Something about Campbell's phrase made me feel queasy, and I've never uttered that sentence because of it. It sounds like a slippery slope to me.

In The Attraction Distraction, by Sonia M. Miller, Miller says that following your bliss means "letting that which brings you joy lead you." It's a great statement, at least to me, because joy...that's a word that brings images of something quite a bit different to mind...at least for me. Somehow, to me, "bliss" implies a loss of the senses, a melting into some kind of gooey, watery abandon, and surrender of the will to a point where anything goes. In my mind, you can trust that something that brings you joy is working for your good, and instead of blindly following something, you are allowing yourself to be led, and guided somewhere. And the guidance, really, is coming from you, from what brings you joy.

So if I think about the things that bring me joy--teaching or practicing yoga, hanging with my seven year old niece, cooking the random fancy dinner, being with loved ones, and yes, the occasional (or frequent) make-out session with the one I love, as many horror movies as I can stand, and writing--basically most creative endeavors seem to elevate the joy factor... I think I'm doing things that definitely keep my vibration high, and keep my soul feeling good--feeling able to attract more nourishing possibilities, more amazing opportunities, and more abundant experiences.

Think about things that bring you joy. When was the last time you were led by joy? When is the last time you allowed yourself to be guided by the things that make you sing inside? Are you moving towards joy? When you do, you move towards your highest good. These good feelings engender more good feelings, and when you are at that level of joy, of true good vibrations, there is nothing that can stop you. You are, at that point, connected to the cosmic, the eternal. You began to be aware of this connection, and to remember that, underneath it all, everything is made of the same energy, and to me, that is the essence of joy--the destruction of the illusion of separation.

So, long post short, joy sounds better to me than bliss. Being led by joy sounds more sound than following some bliss. It can sometimes be in the turn of a phrase that alignment with a principle is discovered, and something you once thought meaningless can develop into a profound truth.