“What you have to do, you do with play,” said Joseph Campbell.

One of my most dog-eared books is A Joseph Campbell Companion. I think a lot of us read, at least some of our reading life is geared toward this, to find instructions on how to live. And if I’m looking for instructions, this isn’t the worst place to start. I’ve so deeply internalized a lot of the wisdom from this book that I think it’s my own often. Books like this one, I tend to try and ignore for a span of time, so that when I go back to it it’s just, ahhhhhh so fresh, you know? And this time, flipping through my favourite passages, they hit even more beautifully, they fit this time we live in. Which makes sense, because that’s the mythical realm we’re tapping into. And we’re in the mythical realm always but we don’t always know it. It’s good to remember that we’re in the mystery, of the mystery.

In the introduction by Diane K. Osborn, she says, after speaking about the universal heartbeat, the sacred, that “living in that rapture is health. And following your bliss, understood as Joseph meant it, is not self-indulgent, but vital: your whole physical system knows that this is the way to be alive in this world and the way to give to the world the every best that you have to offer.” I know that a lot of Campbell’s lines, which are very much bangers, are taken out of context. This is often fine, but you’re going to find a much richer meaning when you get deeper into his work. I mean how many times have you seen someone using a quotation without having read the work it’s from? (That also can be fine, but it can lead to eyebrows shooting up, weird gaffes).

I know it was very fashionable at one point to say that Joseph Campbell’s thing about following our bliss was bullsh*t, but I really can’t imagine these people read all his work?

What struck me this read-through, is the line I opened with, and then this next bit:

“When we talk about settling the world’s problems, we’re barking up the wrong tree. The world is perfect. It’s a mess. It has always been a mess. We are not going to change it. Our job is to straighten out our own lives.”

Hello.

And then:

“Hell is life drying up.”

“The world is a match for us. We are a match for the world.”

Lastly,

“Getting a comedic view of your situation gives you spiritual distance. Having a sense of humour saves you.”

The photos in this post were taken in Rome in November. And it was such an interval of pure play. At first I was disappointed that the carousel was draped in the protective tarp. But it started to seem a bit symbolic. The messages and words written on the plastic in the dust. Someone had torn away a bit of the plastic so you could see in a little but largely the carousel animals were a murky blur. The fun part was obscured. Still, the decorative top was a visual feast. I can’t tell you how many photos I took of this and Rob off to the side patiently just letting me do my thing. At the time I couldn’t even say what drew me to this but I was COMPELLED. Now it makes sense to me but I knew enough to just go with it and enjoy the play. To just delight. I remember taking some pains to line up the angels on the carousel with the angel on top of the Castel Sant’Angelo, and the bird perched on the lamppost. (If you’re in the newsletter you’ll need to click through to the browser to see the header image).

As most creative people know, when you’re just playing around, goofing about, that’s often when neat stuff happens. You’re open to it, it’s open to you. Who knows. In the next two frames, a couple of birds began to play. You could tell they were riffing off of each other, taking turns perching on the horse. Delightful, yes?

It helps, anyway, is what I’ve found, to just go and play at something (in my case photography). Then when you come back to the day job or whatever work you have to do, it’s easier to find that comedic distance.

Ongoingly, so much we cannot change. But what we can do is figure out what we want from our own lives. We can keep in good humour and give our ALL. (See post referencing the year of My ALL ;) )

January 26, 2023