The Difficult Path
A Case For Staying on it.
The words ‘Tell your story…’ appear on medium in faint font before a single word is typed while a blinking cursor waits for something, anything from you.
What do you give it? What’s your story?
I’ll tell you mine, or at least a slice of it.
Once a upon a time I read about a gathering of birds in the forest — big and little, multicolored and plain, long plumed and… you get the idea. They all had a dream — a vision of a glorious feather, the most beautiful they’d ever seen — but they didn’t know what the dream meant. So they went to see the wisest bird, who’d tell them the meaning of the vision.
Turned out, according to interpretation, the feather belonged to ‘the glorious one’ — the most majestic bird they could ever imagine. All the birds were buoyed with energy and excitement upon this revelation, and when they were told they’d have to fly to a place where this glorious one is, they all took to their wings with great zeal.
A thousand birds set off for the journey but the journey was grueling, so much so that over time, it picked off one bird at a time. Truth be told, it was the toughest they’d ever been on, and so, one by one, each bird began to find a reason why they’d rather do something else, something easier.
One by one they dropped off, turning to go back to the life they had before — at least then they’d been comfortable, and they knew what to expect of life. Here’s how Joseph Campbell recites the story in his book:
“…there are some birds who wander off the path and those who flee it. The birds are, in essence, questing for the fiery phoenix, that which can rise from its own ashes back up into illumined wholeness again. In the beginning, the thousand birds set out to enter into and pass through seven valleys, each one presenting different barriers and difficult challenges. The thousand birds endure increasingly hostile conditions, terrible hardships, and torments — including horrifying visions, lacerating doubts, nagging regrets. They long to turn back. They are filled with despair and exhaustion. The creatures receive no satisfaction, nor rest, nor reward for a very long time.”
A similar thing happened in a desert as liberated slaves left Egypt for the ‘promised land,’ they found life in the desert harsh — too harsh. In fact, if it wasn’t for the Red Sea blocking their way back, many, indeed most, would probably have gone back to their captors. At least in Egypt they ate ‘real food’ and were sheltered from the elements by stone walls and a roof over their heads.
And even though the life of a slave was tough, they wanted to go back to that, which indicates just how much tougher life in the desert was. And in Egypt, at least they had certainty — they knew what to expect of each day. I mean, who’d blame them. We’re so comfortable with the familiar, we even have sayings like ‘better the devil that you know than the angel you don’t.’
Life in the desert was certainly unfamiliar, and as such, most uncomfortable. Many felt that Moses, their once revered leader, had led them out to the desert to die in search of a fools’ paradise. Some voiced their displeasure, dissatisfaction with the turn of events violently, others grumbled among themselves and in small groups, birds of a feather do indeed flock together.
Forty years later, the promised land remained just that, a promise. They were still in the desert, still on a journey that should have taken a few weeks at most. This is because they constantly changed direction — some weeks this way, some weeks that way — never committing to one direction long enough to get somewhere. And at other times they just gave up and decided to stay where they were and not continue with the journey.
I don’t take the story of Exodus literally, heck, I don’t even know it that well. What’s interesting though isn’t whether the story is real, but, just as with the Confederacy of the Birds, it’s message — which is very real.
Many times I find myself questioning my flight direction. You see, I used to work as a graphic designer, I was even lucky enough to get into an ad agency — which, commercially speaking, is the promised land for many designers. The potential to climb the ladder and make creative director someday, or at least a well paid Art Director, was very real. The folks I worked with were incredible people that I shared many laughs with, that is until I decided to resign for a career in film. First stop, film school.
I didn’t hesitate, and I wasn’t wrong. I love everything about film, from the history of how motion pictures came to be, to being on set, big or small, fully serviced craft, or shitty coffee that gives the shakes. From directing to focus pulling, I love it all. But all that I’ve mentioned is the glorious feather. The journey though, that’s been…
Well… I won’t bother you with the details, safe to say I’m way more familiar with an empty stomach now, than I’d ever been before. Choosing to do the thing I love the most for a living has undoubtedly been the most fulfilling, and at the same time the toughest journey I’ve ever taken in my life.
And in these tough times, I sometimes look back at Egypt and think, ‘damn I had it good back then, I had it easy. I was comfortable.’ And in these tough times, I forget how uninspired I was with the work I was creating back then, how frustrated I was with client choices, I forget how my creativity was slowly began feeling stiffed. How I stopped caring about my work, because even if I gave it my all, and created something I very was proud of, the client would always pick the shittiest option, so, why even try? I forget all this and long to go back to that life, but I usually remind myself that others have turned pillars of salt for looking back (another Bible reference).
In the end, the one thousand birds were whittled down to 30. Only thirty remained on the path and didn’t give up. That’s THREE PERCENT! The birds that are left learn that the glorious feather isn’t some special bird that they hope to encounter, it’s themselves. It’s who they become after braving through the difficulty of the path.
Eventually, the Israelites do get to the promised land after many, many years.
If you find yourself on an Exodus, so to speak, from captivity to freedom. To a life you desire, the journey won’t be easy. Whether that be pursuing a career that you love, one that fills your wings with air, and one that you’re struggling to make a living out of. Or whether it be trying to lose weight and gaining more. Whatever it may be, though it be difficult, stay on the path.
Though you may, many times over, want to turn back to Egypt, stay on the path. Though you may want to settle in the desert, at that small oasis that you came across, stay on the path. Though you may be more familiar with an empty stomach than a full one, don’t give up. Stick with it, and you’ll get somewhere, or rather, until you get somewhere.
Again, Campbell sums up the story pretty well, he says:
“There is one last advice given to anyone else who might glimpse such a lighted feather during darkness and long to follow it to its source. The counsel is presented by the writer of the story, and in absolute terms — as if to say, there will be no more shilly-shallying around regarding ‘Ought I to go where I am called? Or not?’ The definitive guidance is this:
Whosoever desires to explore The Way — Let them set out — for what more is there to say?”
Keep flying, or walking or crawling forward, to the life you desire, the life that puts a big grin on your face. And remember, even if you fail you move forward, the failures accrue and you tread on them to advance to higher grounds.
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Book Recommends:
I loved this reading this book. It’s where I got the story of the birds. If you have the time, give it a read. I’ve attached its Amazon link:
The Hero With a Thousand Faces’ by Joseph Campbell.
