In one of his auto-biographical essays, Joseph Campbell describes his shock upon discovering, in his fifties, that he had been saying essentially the same thing throughout his entire life. What he thought had been a steady progression of original ideas and insights was, in fact, the continuous development of a single theme.

Well, I know that feeling. Lately, I've been noticing uncanny parallels between that which most interests me now, and that which has always interested me. And, following Campbell's example, I've come to the conclusion that this is not something to be ashamed of, but is well worth paying attention to, for it is revealing something about what he called 'the moving power of your life'.

To give an example, I have been fascinated by the processes of self-healing and inner transformation since I was a teenager, but there are specific individuals within that vast field who have made an unusually large impact on me over the years. One of the first was Edward Bach, who gave up a successful medical career to pursue his calling to find 'flower remedies' in the countryside. I was deeply moved by Bach's willingness to sacrifice his reputation and job security and to follow the impulse of his soul into uncharted waters. If he can do that, I thought, perhaps I can too.

Some years later, I read an account of the life of Paracelsus and was deeply inspired. Once again, there was an example of someone throwing off what was expected and demanded of him, and relentlessly following his own instinctual tendency. In so doing, he achieved results which seemed impossible to his contemporaries, and are still impressive today. The life story of Samuel Hahnemann, founder of homeopathy, contains parallels too numerous to mention, and again, it was the living example, more than the discoveries that he made, that proved inspirational to me in my own journey.

In recent years, I was inspired by and trained with Brandon Bays, whose 'journey process' work arose out of her own self-healing transformation. I have been similarly impressed by Byron Katie, who discovered through her own experience a simple technique by which others can transform themselves. And when I look back through a list that includes Carl Jung, R.D. Laing, Milton Erickson, Joseph Campbell and many others, I can see a number of common themes that connect them all in terms of my own current understanding and growth.

It is a rewarding exercise to begin to unearth that golden thread that has been running through your whole life, which is still running today like an underground stream. As you look back, you can locate the places where the refreshing waters of your own life's impulse have come bursting through the surface, only to return again to the hidden depths below. And sometimes, you can catch a glimpse of recognition that even the rocks and boulders and gaping chasms that life seems to have placed in your way, have also been helping to give the necessary shape and form to that which you are in the process of becoming.

You might not be given the whole picture, but I'll bet there are clues scattered everywhere around if you have the eyes to see them. What moves you? Who has inspired you? When do you feel that you are most alive? What interest would you pursue if you were free to do absolutely anything with your life? The answers to these questions are like neon signs on the enigmatic map of your own life's journey. Pay attention!

September 9th, London
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