Follow Your Bliss and Other Lies about Calling

What does it mean to pursue a calling? According to Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore, it may mean ambiguity, uncertainty, and even suffering--but that's what makes it worthwhile. Drawing on over thirty years of research and concrete examples from history, fiction, and her own experience, she delves into the inherent complexities around the pursuit of a calling and the lie that meaning in life is as simple as following your bliss. Instead, the path to meaning is rocky and uncertain--and that is exactly what makes it worth following.

Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore is E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Chair and Professor of Religion, Psychology, and Culture, Emerita at Vanderbilt University. She earned her PhD from the University of Chicago and has spent over thirty-five years teaching and writing, her publications spanning eighteen books and over a hundred chapters and articles. She is a Henry Luce III Fellow in Theology and has received numerous awards and grants for the study of teaching and vocation, practical theology, and women and childhood studies.