Yes to Life

a poem by Joseph Campbell

The warrior’s approach

is to say “yes” to life:

“yea” to it all.

Participate joyfully

in the sorrows of the world.

We cannot cure the world of sorrows,

but we can choose to live in joy.

When we talk about

settling the world’s problems

We’re barking up the wrong tree.

The world is perfect. It is a mess.

It has always been a mess.

We are not going to change it.

Our job is to straighten out

our own lives.

Joseph Campbell in a Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living

I will confess 2 things.

1. I really like this poem, especially the resounding yes-ness of it. Participating joyfully in the sorrows of the world just seems right to me. It’s got a Buddhist flavor to it.
2. I will constrain myself, but I so want to edit and revise the poem. I don’t want to embody a warrior’s approach to life. I want to embody a peacemaker’s approach to life. But it’s Campbell’s poem, so I will leave it …I’m not going to change it. My job it seems is to straighten out my own life. (And yes, that’s another word I want to quibble with. Nothing about me is going to be straight. I will gaily leave that too as it is, and dive deeper into understanding and accepting the radiant light within me – within me and you and all of us. Oh, and while, I’m on a roll, I might just as well say it: glow little glow worms, glimmer for all you are worth!!)