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“You must try, as my dear colleague the esteemed mythology professor Joseph Campbell used to say, to 'follow your bliss.'" "Follow my bliss?" It sounded like a slogan in a yogurt commercial. Aunt Gert nodded again. "You must follow your bliss no matter the circumstances life thrusts upon you." "But what does that mean? I have responsibilities. I can't just up and leave everything to pursue my own happiness," I protested. Aunt Gert snorted. "Who said anything about happiness? Don't be a ninny. You are mistakenly equating bliss with happiness. They're not the same thing." "They're not?" I asked in bewilderment, wondering briefly if anyone in my life had ever called me a ninny before. "What's the difference?" "Happiness is fleeting, fickle, often based on our circumstances." Aunt Gert waved a hand dismissively. "If you chase happiness, you will more often than not end up disappointed by the very nature of life. Life is hard, brutal at times, and often unfair. But following your bliss, that's entirely different. It means facing your present reality with honesty and courage and, in the midst of it all, continuing to pursue each spark of joy, even if it is a tiny pinpoint in the darkness of your life. Do not give up. Continue to look for the light in your life---it is always present somewhere, some small thing to be grateful for, something to celebrate, a way to give joy to others, a new way to grow. Move toward the light in life; seek it out no matter what. This is the essence of what it means to follow your bliss. You must be honest. Pay attention. Seek joy.”

“You must try to combine in your life immense idealism with immense practicality. You must be prepared to go into deep meditation now, and the next moment you must be ready to go and cultivate the fields. You must be prepared to explain the intricacies of the scriptures now, and the next moment to go and sell the produce of the fields in the market....The true man is he who is strong as strength itself and yet possesses a woman's heart.”

“You must tune everything else out and create from your heart." I nod, dipping my brush in red acrylic, then white, before mixing the paints on the palette until they form a perfect pink. I paint a peony, and then another. I somehow recall a garden, far away from here, where there were (are?) peonies. I remember the way the blossoms are so heavy that they flounce over, and I reach for another brush and dip it into green to get the stems just right.”

“You must understand something, George. The world's leaders create catastrophes and resolve them-- all at their own whimsy-- every single day. It is how the world runs. Lacking anything else to believe in, common people need to believe in their leaders' abilities to save them. It's true! Their emotional well-being-- and yes, their fate-- depends on the intelligence and skill of those who manipulate the days' disasters. And it should go without saying that the one who succeeds in taking the reins of leadership-- by whatever means-- is the most intelligent and skillful, and therefore most qualified to lead.”

“You must understand that all of us are in the same boat which, at times, can find itself in calm seas and at others in rough ones. Maybe you'll tell me that yours has only seen rough seas. But know this... that a boat inured in rough seas comes out stronger than one anchored in port. The latter, in the heaven it enjoys, becomes more susceptible to rot.”

“You must understand that if you indulge in revenge exclusively, it will come back to you, because those who are revenged upon - even if the whole world believes they deserve it - will in some way express exactly what was expressed towards them. Why perpetuate suffering, no matter how justified it may seem to be, if it only perpetuates suffering in the future for future generations?”

“You must understand that your creativity comes alive when you spend time alone focusing on your projects without distractions.”

“You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it. That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, that is why you must sing and dance, and write poems and suffer and understand, for all that is life.”

“You must understand your individual temperament and have an awareness of your inner voice. What often happens when you enter into a relationship and you have no previous knowledge of your perception of love and your ability to be love, you begin to look for it within another one. Which is a dangerous thing because the tide of relationship will always be changing based on your perception of the idea of the love you are experiencing.”

“You must understand, the leading Bolsheviks who took over Russia were not Russians. They hated Russians. They hated Christians. Driven by ethnic hatred they tortured and slaughtered millions of Russians without a shred of human remorse. It cannot be overstated. Bolshevism committed the greatest human slaughter of all time. The fact that most of the world is ignorant and uncaring about this enormous crime is proof that the global media is in the hands of the perpetrators.”