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Monthly Archives: August 2007

Follow Your Bliss

This week Merv Griffin past away, a man of humble origins who rose to a place of great wealth. Griffin was not the most talented or funny talk show host , but he brought something else to his work–joy! And that joy attracted the Universe’s goodwill, and allowed it to inform his life. In memorium this week, a wonderful story appeared in the LA Times by Peter Barsocchini, a former producer of The Merv Griffin Show who reminisced about the talk show host/mogul. One of the headlines reads: "He followed his bliss to great fame and fortune." Here’s what Barsocchini said: "When his empire grew and business press inerviewed him about the secret to ‘becoming a mogul,’ he told the truth. He just wanted to have fun. He liked doing puzzles and playing games. He created Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune not to build an empire, but to have fun. Once during the Joseph Campbell "Power of Myth" craze, I suggested he watch the PBS series. He did. He called me and said, "I’ve been following my bliss all these years and didn’t even know it." Barsocchini suggested that the reason The Merv Griffin Show was such a success was that the host came to each show like a wide-eyed youngster curious about the lives of his celebrity guests, never feeling as one with them, instead giving his audience the sensation that he was just as in awe of the celebrities as they were. And his awe and wonder was genuine. A toast to a man who lived life to the fullest–in its rarest and most pure form–bliss.