Here and Now

"You must give up the life you planned in order to have the life that is waiting for you.” – Joseph Campbell


I love this quote. I love this quote because it speaks to ME. To me, it is the best advice ever.

I have lived in many places. Growing up we moved a lot, and I think the urge for moving is a part of me. I see a new move as a clean slate, and when I look back on all the places I've lived, there was a part of ME, a different part of ME that really stood out. My surroundings were different and invoked a different purpose in myself. My friends were different and they supported and helped foster different interests and ideas. I felt different in each place, like certain characteristics were magnified according to where I was.

Each time I move on I leave a piece of me behind. A part of the process of moving on involves a mourning for what I left behind. Sometimes the mourning becomes more prominent and really shakes me up. I can curse myself with "what if's". What if I hadn't left? Who would I be? What part of ME that was there, am I missing here?

This is a nonproductive momentum. Yet it is one that has cursed me ever since I left home the day after high school graduation.

Life is like a river. It is always moving and you can not contain any one moment, you can only enjoy and be present where you are. The river moves on and is dynamic. You move on, you grow, and you are dynamic. Each person you love becomes a part of you, even when they turn to memories. Each beautiful horizon nourishes you, and you move on and take the beauty somewhere inside of you. Life is so bountiful and abundant. And we are powerful in what we choose to hold inside, and how we choose to express our vast river of experience. We can mourn the parts that we hold so dear, I often do. But we can not stop the ever changing waters. We can not contain a river. Instead we can accept where we are, who we are, and where we want to go. Looking back accomplishes nothing. Enjoying the cool water in this very moment accomplishes everything.

It's a good thing to remember.

"You must give up the life you planned in order to have the life that is waiting for you.” – Joseph Campbell

Thanks Mr. Campbell. It's great advice.