hoppin' down the eternal self-improvement trail, i happened upon the most readable and most practical of joseph campbell books: reflections on the art of living: a joseph campbell companion. in need of more art in my living, i cracked the book to find an eloquent voice of sanity...
especially helpful was campbell's retelling of the nietzschian concept of amor fati, translated as 'a love of one's fate/life'...the postmodern equivalent would be, 'it's all good'...that one's life need not be different than it already is...and that anything that might happen to one is for the best, for learning and growth.
the warrior's approach
is to say 'yes' to life:
'yea' to it all.
he cautions against people who need to change others and or 'the world', basically stating that the only real change one can make without forcing someone/something else to fit one's own terms, is one's self...all else is projection. campbell says:
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.
lately, i've been framing my [seemingly negative] sabbatical experiences and most of the rest of my [seemingly negative] life as amor fati. i feel surges of peace warrior energy, saying 'yea' to everything! this modus operandi alone has done wonders for my relationship with my parents; it dovetails with eknath easwaran's mantram for happiness and service in life and relationships---put others first.
go ahead. call me. ask something ridiculous of me. i just might say 'yes'...
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