When LIFE starts making sense . . .

"People living deeply have no fear of death." ~ Anais Nin

Ah . . . "People living deeply have no fear of death." So simple yet so powerful and true. Those words by author Anais Nin really resonate with me. Besides inspiring me to live life to the fullest, they are also a reminder to live in the NOW. At least that 's one of the meanings I come away with. When we're focused on our BLISS, there are no thoughts of death or of wondering what will happen to us when we die. Being present, in the moment, the NOW, awakens within us a sense of being fully alive, and once that happens, we begin to understand how eternal we are.

I remember not too long ago when I had questions about why we were here on Earth. It all seemed so futile. A couple of years ago my dad was hospitalized for like the third time in the same year. Aside from the whole experience being quite horrible, I was also in a terrible state of mind. Rage coursed through my veins. And here I was, visiting him in the hospital every day. Seeing him practically unrecognizable. He was hallucinating and out of it most of the time. Well, I was certainly not happy. One day I sat in his hospital room and started writing this long letter about how horrible things were. I was basically asking why the hell we were here on Earth. What was the purpose of our lives if we came here, worked, suffered and then we died. What was all that about? I wrote pages and pages about what a complete waste of time life was. I just couldn't understand why any of us were here.

I still have that letter, in fact I read some of it a few months ago and it was like someone else had written it. And I understood him. Not because I agreed with what was written, but I understood how someone in his state of mind could think that way. At the time, I had no understanding of much of anything. I wasn't living any sort of life that gave me any kind of joy. I had no hope whatsoever and as I wrote last week, we can't survive long without HOPE. The me that wrote that letter was really a shell of a person living a life that barely touched the surface of anything. I wasn't even close to living deeply. At that time I was so far from my true self that it's really a miracle I survived at all.

So many, many things have changed since I wrote those words. I began to seek the answers to all of my questions about life and my purpose here. Was it just to work at a boring job or to keep struggling to become a famous singer? Or was I just wasting time until I died? I always felt there was a reason for my being here. . . but I wasn't sure what it was. at that point Slowly, when I was ready for it, the Universal answers revealed themselves to me. I began to understand more and more the reason for my existence. Although I don't always make it easy on myself, I do believe and get glimpses of the fact that at it's very core, LIFE is most definitely beautiful and quite easy. I now understand the power I have over the things I see and experience. Every single day I have the choice to live an authentic life and be true to the me that came forth into the physical to experience as much joy as possible.

The more I focus on joy and feeling good, the more reasons the Universe gives me to feel good and joyful. As I concentrate on that which brings me absolute bliss, I keep connecting to my Source. That eternal Source that is everlasting. Any fear of death disappears when you are living this life in the way that you intended when you came forth into the physical. Of course we start to doubt our reasons for living . . . if WE ARE NOT LIVING! The instant you begin to take steps towards revealing what brings you to a state of happiness and bliss, that's the instant life starts making sense. That is the moment you begin to truly experience life like you've never experienced it before. It ceases to be a journey towards an inevitable end but more of a journey that can be packed with a myriad of mind-blowing experiences without end. Life is eternal . . .

So, think about it for the next couple of days. What makes you feel alive? What steps can you take right now to bring some joy into your life? What is your BLISS? What wonderful gift are you here on Earth to give to us?

Peace and Light to you and KEEP DREAMING

Gene-Manuel

Follow your bliss . . .

BILL MOYERS: Do you ever have the sense of... being helped by hidden hands?

JOSEPH CAMPBELL: All the time. It is miraculous. I even have a superstition that has grown on me as a result of invisible hands coming all the time - namely, that if you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in your field of bliss, and they open doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be.

Oh, to follow your BLISS . . . follow your BLISS . . . listen to your divine inner guidance and follow . . . your . . . B L I S S. Even just saying the words sparks a little joy within doesn't it? Say it out loud and see how it makes you feel. "FOLLOW YOUR BLISS"

I'm sure I had heard these famous words before but the one time I read them and truly felt them touch my core was when I was reading Anderson Cooper's book, Dispatches from the Edge. He writes about one of the most important things his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, ever told him, and that was "follow your bliss." I remember reading these words and thinking, "Wow!! What a fucking phenomenal thing to tell your child. 'Follow your bliss.'" This was at the very start of my search for my own personal bliss so I hadn't even heard of Joseph Campbell and his outstanding work.

Since then I've read, heard, and felt these words many, many times. They are the driving force behind my art and my life. They encapsulate the ultimate secret to a joyful life! Once we start to follow our own beautiful, precious, stunningly clear and simple BLISS, then it's all downstream from there. Downstream and fast without oars. Life becomes the incredible adventure it is supposed to be.

Like Mr. Campbell says above, once we start to follow our bliss, we are then connected with that path that has always been there. I'm a strong believer in how we come into this amazing world full of the knowledge that we need to flourish and shine throughout our physical experience. That's our BLISS right there. Along the way, the majority of us get distracted and subsequently thrown off course and following our Bliss doesn't even enter our minds. But, what we are born with, that brilliant inner light that I've been writing about this past week, that light is always there. No matter what we go through or all the things that have made that light get so dim it's almost gone out, no matter what, that light is still there because it is divinely connected to our Source. Call it God, Universal Energy, the Universe, Divine Light or BLISS . . . no matter what you call it, this connection is never broken. Our job then is to get with it and start to follow this bliss by letting this inner light guide us there.

The big question for me at one point was HOW?!! How do I follow my bliss? Shit! At one point I wasn't even sure what my bliss was let alone how to follow it. How could I follow something I couldn't identify? I mean, I had a few things I knew I loved doing and wanted to do, mainly my music and some acting, but it just seemed as if I wasn't motivated enough to follow them with passion. So, there came a point when I basically started asking for the answer. What was my bliss? What was I meant to do? I wrote a little bit about this here: Inspired Action (I) & Inspired Action (II) And this is how I finally came to following my bliss. I came to understand what would make me so incredibly happy and filled with joy. Once I started on that path to connecting with my inner light, slowly and carefully raising that dimmer switch on it, then it became easier and easier to see the path that would allow me to follow my own personal bliss.

I'm still on that journey. Some days I make it easier on myself than on others. But, the majority of the time, if I focus my attention on all the good in my life and on the things that make me happy, then I know I'm still following bliss. I hope to continue on the path and write about it along the way. I invite all of you to start your own journey and really tapping into your very own special inner light. Allow it to then illuminate your way towards bliss. It can be a little scary at first, but the more you trust, the easier it gets. I promise. FOLLOW.

Peace and Light to you and KEEP DREAMING!

Gene-Manuel