Finding My Bliss

Often throughout my life I've wondered if I found my bliss. I'm referring to the "bliss" that Joseph Campbell, the noted author of The Power of the Myth talked about in his television interview with Bill Moyers. I thought I found it when I left home after graduating from high school and leaving the cloak of restraint that my small town wrapped around me. But I was too busy in my new living arrangement to think about the search for my bliss. I went on some blissful excursions the first year out of view of my small town neighbors and the boy whose parents had intentions for us.

I met a good-looking radio announcer at a radio station located next to the business school I attended. This handsome guy had a beautiful, velvet-like voice, and in the evening while I was at home practicing my Gregg shorthand, he would dedicate songs to me on the air. Oh, how thrilling! Several times after his 11:00 p.m. shift at the turntable, Romeo would come over for a late night visit. The couple I lived with and for whom I worked to earn my room and board advised me one morning that I was "burning the candle at both ends." I had to arise early to prepare breakfast and lunches for all of us even though I got to bed at 1:00 a.m. At the time I didn't comprehend what "burning the candle at both ends" really meant. It took many candles and a few years before I finally learned the meaning of that old cliche. Golden throat didn't pan out, and I can't remember why except that another blissful excursion came along. I have often wondered what bliss I might have missed out on, though.