Over breakfast one morning this week John and I were discussing something that we both felt was "soul-destroying."
Later in the day I started to think about what the opposite of "soul-destroying" might be. First, I looked up various definitions to make sure I was on the right track. "Soul-destroying" can be defined as:
- "unremittingly monotonous;"
- "demoralizing, depressing, disheartening, boring, unfulfilling, tedious, unsatisfactory, crushing;"
- "something that causes erosion of moral fortitude or that eliminates hope or motivation."
With this established I started to ask people around me what the opposite of this word meant to them, either in words or pictures. And I discovered that while most understand completely what "soul-destroying" signifies, it's much harder for them to explain the inverse state, that which is or would be utterly positive in the extreme.
For me, this would be a situation that:
- gives me hope;
- fills me with joy, elation, dare I say "bliss";
- is life enhancing, invigorating, challenging, euphoric, creative.
What does this say about people? Hopefully this state is something people can conceive of and desire for themselves, but may be so special that they didn't want to share it? Or maybe they were just too busy to give it some serious thought. Hmmm.
Usually joy and euphoria are catching if they're available in a neighborhood near you. Seems to me that a contagion may be called for if people can't tell you what makes them deliriously happy. Has the world gotten too serious? What do you think?
Joseph Campbell, follow your bliss, where are thou? May be time to re-read all that and pass it on.
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.