Steve Goodier Wisdom: Follow Your Bliss

In this inspirational article, master storyteller, Steve Goodier, shares a key piece of life wisdom about purpose. Enjoy!

Author Joseph Campbell often talked about “following your bliss.” I heard of a bus driver in Chicago who does just that.

He sings while he drives. That’s right… sings! And I don’t mean he sings softly to himself, either. He sings so that the whole bus can hear! All day long he drives and sings.

He was once interviewed on Chicago television. He said that he is not actually a bus driver. “I’m a professional singer,” he asserted. “I only drive the bus to get a captive audience every single day.” Read more

Best of Steve Goodier: Follow Your Bliss

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Author Joseph Campbell often talked about “follow your bliss.” I heard of a bus driver in Chicago who does just that.

He sings while he drives. That’s right… sings! And I don’t mean he sings softly to himself, either. He sings so that the whole bus can hear! All day long he drives and sings.

He was once interviewed on Chicago television. He said that he is not actually a bus driver. “I’m a professional singer,” he asserted. “I only drive the bus to get a captive audience every single day.” Read more

Best of Blog: The Story of Big Jim

The power went out. Again!

I looked out my second story office window and knew exactly why. I could hear the sounds throughout the morning. There was a crew of four men and three bucket trucks stringing power lines along the new poles they had been planting in the front and back yards of my neighborhood the past few weeks.

Often, during this time, I would work on my laptop on the front porch and watch this professional teamwork in total synchronicity, moving from pole to pole in planned sequence. First, it was connecting the phone lines. Then, cable. Today, and finally, from the back alley, the electricity.

What was of extreme interest to me was the foreman of this well-oiled machine. A big, burly middle-aged fellow whose sheer stature and hard look would intimidate most. But, he always uttered his commands, some very loudly as his underlings were often thirty-five feet in the air, with warm authority. Read more

Outgrowing the Life You’ve Known: The Loneliness & Loss of Blossoming

“It’s lonely to follow your bliss,” said Deb, a student in a recent workshop. “Say more,” I asked, trying not to salivate. I confess it’s a topic near and dear to my heart lately.

“I used to have all these friends. We’d eat, drink, and bitch about our lives. We’d tell stories of stupid co-workers, Cretan, evil bosses, you know,” she said. Of course, I remembered that. “Trading distressing stories like baseball cards– and suddenly, you have nothing ‘sexy’ to swap because you’re focused on your dreams now, not your setbacks,” I said. “Exactly,” said Deb. “But now I don’t have that camaraderie, because I’m not pissed off anymore. No one from my old life wants to hear how much fun I’m having. And, frankly, I don’t want to hear how much their lives don’t work.”

This is the “problem” with growing. Sometimes, in order to connect with yourself, you have to separate from what you’ve known. The aliveness of love will ruin your chances of stagnation. It will call you out. Success demands loss. Sometimes, we have to let go of waning definitions, circumstances, or relationships that no longer reflect us so that we can blossom wide. Read more

The Story of Big Jim

The power went out. Again!

I looked out my second story office window and knew exactly why. I could hear the sounds throughout the morning. There was a crew of four men and three bucket trucks stringing power lines along the new poles they had been planting in the front and back yards of my neighborhood the past few weeks.

Often, during this time, I would work on my laptop on the front porch and watch this professional teamwork in total synchronicity, moving from pole to pole in planned sequence. First, it was connecting the phone lines. Then, cable. Today, and finally, from the back alley, the electricity.

What was of extreme interest to me was the foreman of this well-oiled machine. A big, burly middle-aged fellow whose sheer stature and hard look would intimidate most. But, he always uttered his commands, some very loudly as his underlings were often thirty-five feet in the air, with warm authority. Read more

Steve Goodier - Follow Your Bliss

Author Joseph Campbell often talked about “follow your bliss.” I heard of a bus driver in Chicago who does just that.

He sings while he drives. That’s right… sings! And I don’t mean he sings softly to himself, either. He sings so that the whole bus can hear! All day long he drives and sings.

He was once interviewed on Chicago television. He said that he is not actually a bus driver. “I’m a professional singer,” he asserted. “I only drive the bus to get a captive audience every single day.”

His “bliss” is not driving a bus, though that may be a source of enjoyment for some people. His bliss is singing. And the supervisors at the Chicago Transit Authority are perfectly happy about the whole arrangement. You see, people line up to ride his bus. They even let other buses pass by so they can ride with the “singing bus driver.” They love it! Read more