The Bliss of This

So why does Maslow suck?

Well, I'll tell you, but I'm not going to bother putting the whole thought in front of you. I'm just going to throw you a little bone for now. See Cookie over there, on the right? See the love in her eyes as she salivates all over her bone? Cookie is in utter bliss! "Follow your bliss!" said Joseph Campbell. According to him, that is what obtains us happiness and purposeful living.

Maslow expressed the same thought inside-out: If you tell him what gives you bliss, he will tell you what kind of human being you are. I did the inventory, Maslow's, and I came out a basic person, irrevocably inferior, not only to self-actualization, but inferior to esteem, inferior, even, to love. I took another look at the questions. I came out basic again. I cannot honestly answer the inventory questions differently. I cannot!

But I'm not basic. I am driven to deal with abstract matters, such as these very matters about which I am now writing, because the abstractions are vitally important in a nation of communities governed by laws and nurtured by a system of public, free education. I am obsessed with exploration of those inner workings. It gives me bliss to put words together in such a way that they rout out truth.

But Maslow says that counts for nothing. He says I'm basic because of the way I answered the questions! I am motivated by feed and water! I'm no better than Cookie! There's considerable shame in that, you know, being basic. I mean, Good God Almighty! Basic people seek gratification on an animal level! We are driven to have sex, eat, sleep, rid ourselves of waste, and maybe obtain a little security. THAT'S IT!

Strange though, isn't it, that the self-actualized person shares most of the opinions of the "basic" person? The "basic" person doesn't seek approval of others, but the "self-actualized" person doesn't either. He's beyond that. His eyes are on the "higher" prize. He serves only the noblest ideals of human experience. He doesn't go after the approval of others; they follow him.

So sometimes, the "self-actualized" person and the "basic" person behave surprisingly alike. The difference is their personal, private motivations.

The real question to answer is not on Maslow's inventory. The real question is, what brings you bliss?