I made this Bliss collage, and I hope I’ll make more. My mother has said a lot of things, and I like the way they echo in me every day. Follow your bliss. Put a smile on your face and a song in your heart (my mother said this one all the time, but I can’t say I remember her ever listening to much music). Let go and let God.
She said to me once that if you’re trying too hard at something, it’s probably not meant to be. I only heard her say it once. I’m the kind of person who puts a lot of effort into everything. Usually she encouraged me to work hard. But this one stuck with me, and I really struggled to understand how you could do the work and not find success. Sometimes you can try so, so hard to be or learn something that always seems just out of reach. And if you work too hard, you will break. But in spite all of your efforts, or beside all of your efforts, there is grace.
It may not look the way you thought it would, and you may have to wait a while for it. If you back off a little bit, you might find that it is there. Or maybe with a little distance your expectations change. You can’t see the forest for the trees. It can be so hard to see this, and it took me so long to understand what she was trying to tell me.
A good example of this can be found in the yoga asana practice. You may push yourself very hard to get into a pose, to reach your foot or find your balance or be flexible enough. But if you back off a little and relax, you may find that when your muscles are no longer clenching you can reach your foot, comfortably balance, and go deeper in the pose. Find your bliss.
Follow Your Bliss
