Welcome to Janice Ervin

One Candle at a Time
by Janice Ervin

'Follow your bliss’. .. This legendary quote by Joseph Campbell has been echoed by luminaries time and again. For when one flows in synchronicity with their bliss, they move in union with joy, and can’t help but contribute a unique gift to the earth plane. Ah... ‘Imagine’ coaxed John, for he believed the collective fusion of such beautiful yet precious energy engenders the ability to raise mankind to new heights. ‘You may say that I’m a dreamer…but I’m not the only one’…

In reality, too often our actions are not in harmony with who we are at core level. This is evident when the everyday dealings of living do not create that flurry of breath from beneath...air necessary to enable the spirit to soar far beyond its familiar peaks. Thus, we are unable to vibrate to our greatest personal measure, which deprives us of delight and others of a promise yet to be.

What happened? Certainly as children we all innocently dreamed of far reaching possibilities, with no vision too ridiculous to consider. Yet there comes a point along the path to adulthood, whereby some of us shift our perception.

We’ve been taught that maturity entails making compromises which can be interpreted as a need to settle for other than those childhood ideals. So we assure ourselves that being responsible is synonymous with letting-go-of-fantasies. We were not told however, that in doing so, an elusive essence, absent from our lives, will continue to reverberate.

Meanwhile, we ‘grow up’ and find ourselves waking, working, paying bills, sleeping and holding on for the weekend. We over-drink, over-eat, and lose ourselves in TV, living vicariously through the lives of others. Yes, humanity is quite inventive when it comes to finding ways to ignore the numbness within. However, when we are trapped in a life cycle which brings mostly angst, unease, dread of a Monday or any day or worse, numbness, how can we exude an affirming countenance? When we feel ensnared and powerless, what is left within our reserves to contribute to a greater whole? Sadly, humans even feel it necessary to emotionally and spiritually flay themselves as a human sacrifice in order to attain favour with another person and sometimes a higher source.

Is it possible we have an inaccurate understanding for our responsibility to self, our responsibility to community and maybe even our integral function and relationship as it pertains to something larger and more connective than our physical awareness? It is my belief that if you have ever experienced the ecstasy of loving – whether it be for another human, a pet or a passion…in actuality, loving so much it hurts; the greatest love we are capable of feeling can’t begin to compare to the depth of love available to us through an enhanced connective source. And that source only wishes for us to know our greatest joy and then share that beam of illumination with others.

Indeed, there are less attractive, mundane facets to any overall goal. Effort is required for achievement. But when the eye remains firmly set on a worthy prize, and the prize infuses the being with delight, we find a way to maneuver through unpleasantness. As example, the desire may be to beautify the curb appeal of the home, but that front door doesn't get painted a perfect shade of blue all by itself. And while puppies are adorable, and a loyal, loving companion is a wonderful ambition; puppies are not house trained through magic alone.

Nevertheless, when part of a larger scope, even those less glamorous moments incorporate an element of joy. And the happiness we experience bubbles from an eternal wellspring of all that is good, pure and beautiful. This life affirming energy seizes the chance to flow through us, illuminating our exterior self. An elation that can’t be tamped down becomes readily apparent through our eyes and our tone; in fact, it transforms into an ability to converse, share and know a heightened generosity towards others. So, just as decelerating our energetic flow weighs heavy on our spirit; there is a lightening when we dance in accordance. In short, when we find, then ‘follow our bliss’, we set in motion a dynamic aspect to the nucleus of spirit.

Once this flame is ignited there is no denying or turning away from its beckoning. It simply IS. And as we pulsate in synchronicity with our purpose, we ‘witness’ our bliss for others. Wonderfully, this witness is eons better than a verbal preaching; this is a living, breathing, beaming witness of joy, which offers the opportunity for others to experience an ‘aha’ moment of awakening as well.

Among us all, walk those that challenge the odds and taunt fate to embrace their passion. In the doing, singers, dancers, poets, farmer, writers and others have all found their heaven. They have connected to who they are, learned what brings their greatest pleasure, and then fuelled that essence into their day. That essence turns the ordinary job into the extraordinary passion. IT is not separate from you. IT is part OF you. You are part of IT and connected to something larger than your secular self, and that link can only continue to manifest into a greater union with something more.

It’s as if a whole new world is available for pursuit and you know the joy experienced is worth the effort concerned. Suddenly, the fleeting pleasure found in purchasing material items falls to the wayside, and ‘keeping up with the Jones’s’ brings no satisfaction. Instead, you comprehend that responsibility is coupled with exquisite beauty in the free will gift to choose, and in doing so change the world. It’s as if someone shared a precious secret, and now you wish to illuminate the lives of others, much as one candle lights another. And as another well known philosopher once said, ‘A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle’. For in doing so, we honour creation itself.