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On Approach to Bliss
By Peter Caputo (Edmonton, AB, Canada)
On Approach to Bliss - a long, hard, but beautiful journey. I first discovered Joseph Campbell during the Bill Moyers interviews back in the late 80's. I was only 16 years old but I had my epiphany as to what I wanted to do in Life.
One year prior, in 1986, I flew to Italy for the first time with my brother John, to visit the homeland of my family in the southern region of Calabria. I had never flown before in an airplane nor been overseas. I was very excited. After taking off from Edmonton, we needed to stop in Toronto to board a Boeing 747 with Alitalia Airlines, Italy's flag carrier on our flight to Rome.
Most the way, I was in awe as I stared down at the Earth from high altitude and became mesmerized by the glorious view of scenery, clouds, darkness, sunsets, and sunrise. I was bit by the aviation bug and now I was hooked. This flight ended where I was able to walk to the front of the monster jet on the tarmac at Leonardo DaVinci Airport and look into the eyes of Bliss from a career perspective.
After having toured Italy for two weeks and seen the beauty of Rome, Venice, Florence, Positano, Amalfi, and the Isle of Capri, I was again in the wave and rapture of my heart's bliss. I had truly come home and could feel a sense of connectedness that transcended normal comprehension. At only 15 years of age, it was difficult to describe all this to my friends and family when I came back home. And so the journey began and I had found my bliss two fold. The first thing I knew was what I wanted to DO - be an Airline Pilot. The next was what I wanted to BE - and that was be a good father, a good husband, a good friend, and a permenent resident while doing so in Italy.
After many years in flight school which began in 1991, I attained my canadian Commercial Pilot License and flight instructor rating. However, flight school politics and huge financial demands did not allow me to secure a job to build experience. After working for a short while in a dream job in Vancouver as a charter pilot, the company shut down operations after only a few months. I was back in search mode and I started to become disillusioned about how volatile this career was. In 1996, after working various jobs in retails, sales, and my own self employed business as an agent, I decided to take another trip to Italy.
Now I was 25 and I had a much more adult foundation as to what I truly felt back as a 15 year old. I confirmed that I was in fact still as passionate as the first time, and then some. Now as I flew in the huge jet across the atlantic ocean, I had the knowledge and background with me, and I knew I was on the path to achieving this goal. In 1997, I attended the University of North Dakota at UND Aerospace, graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Aeronautical Science degree in Air Transport and also attained my FAA Commercial Pilot License for the USA.
Unfortunately, another obstacle was I could not use this great education in the very country I attained it...immigration did not allow me to stay in the country without a Green Card. At this point, my student loans and support from my family exceeded over $120,000 in training and living expenses. In 2000, shortly after graduation, I returned to Italy and began studying for the itailan pilot exams, and yet another obstacle...everything was written in Italian and I had to write the exams in italian. I translated everything, studied for 9 months, and then finally took the exams. I passed them and just before I was ready to undergo the practical flight tests, the events of September 11th rocked the world and my sense of direction was suddenly stunned. There went another $25000 and yet another obstacle.
I returned home and once again began to reassess my options. Well, while in a long term relationship with my ex girlfriend from 2001 to just this past April 2008, I ended it. During all that time, I could not let go of my desire to return to Italy nor to abandon all the hard work and sacrifice to become an Airline Pilot. And so for me, the Hero's journey began and I once again would face the trials and tribulations of achieving this goal. I took it upon myself to take the pinnacle step in opening up a huge opportunity for myself.
The airline pilot exams for the United Kingdom are regarded as the toughest in the world, for they carry the most depth of knowledge for any commercial civil pilot license. I studied for over a year and end of October, passed all 14 theoretical exams with an overall of 91%. I had exceeded all my expectations and the sacrifices, night and day with books in hand, paid off. And so that leads me to today. I am only a few months away from acquiring my pilot licene for Europe and will able to use it anywhere in the EU. Italy of course, is where I will be headed, and if following my bliss has given me this amazing journey (and struggle) thus far, my heart tells me Italy is waiting for me.
I will keep you all posted this spring as to the outcome, but after over 17 years, on and off, touch and go, obstacle to obstacle, my heart has taken me within a few months of two blisses for me....I see it as approaching the summit...one for my sense of purpose, the other for my career and livelihood. If I can achieve both of these, I know Joseph Campbell would be proud. I also determined through a bit of research that I will be the only person of my family's last name in the whole world, to be a certified pilot in Canada, USA, and the European Union.
After that, it's just a matter of putting on the uniform, climbing to 40,000 feet, and thanking Joseph Campbell for giving me the tools to face the journey which soon, will have a happy ending. Besides Italy and my career, I have begun a trilogy of novels that involve the new mythology, Gaia, and have prepared the drafts and begun the first chapters. I am hoping to have the first of them published by next fall. All I can say is, follow your heart, listen to its voice and hence, your intuition, and never let anyone convince you otherwise. It's a beautiful adventure, testing your preserverence and sense of resolve, and it makes you a better person for it. Sometimes, feeling your way through life is far more comforting than just thinking about it.
I wish you all safe and exciting journeys on your pathway to bliss and may it always bring you to what it truly exists for - the transcendence to the raptures of the Universe. When you achieve it, and in my case almost there, I feel as if I coming home and have truly arrived in this lifetime. << Back
By Peter Caputo (Edmonton, AB, Canada)
On Approach to Bliss - a long, hard, but beautiful journey. I first discovered Joseph Campbell during the Bill Moyers interviews back in the late 80's. I was only 16 years old but I had my epiphany as to what I wanted to do in Life.
One year prior, in 1986, I flew to Italy for the first time with my brother John, to visit the homeland of my family in the southern region of Calabria. I had never flown before in an airplane nor been overseas. I was very excited. After taking off from Edmonton, we needed to stop in Toronto to board a Boeing 747 with Alitalia Airlines, Italy's flag carrier on our flight to Rome.
Most the way, I was in awe as I stared down at the Earth from high altitude and became mesmerized by the glorious view of scenery, clouds, darkness, sunsets, and sunrise. I was bit by the aviation bug and now I was hooked. This flight ended where I was able to walk to the front of the monster jet on the tarmac at Leonardo DaVinci Airport and look into the eyes of Bliss from a career perspective.
After having toured Italy for two weeks and seen the beauty of Rome, Venice, Florence, Positano, Amalfi, and the Isle of Capri, I was again in the wave and rapture of my heart's bliss. I had truly come home and could feel a sense of connectedness that transcended normal comprehension. At only 15 years of age, it was difficult to describe all this to my friends and family when I came back home. And so the journey began and I had found my bliss two fold. The first thing I knew was what I wanted to DO - be an Airline Pilot. The next was what I wanted to BE - and that was be a good father, a good husband, a good friend, and a permenent resident while doing so in Italy.
After many years in flight school which began in 1991, I attained my canadian Commercial Pilot License and flight instructor rating. However, flight school politics and huge financial demands did not allow me to secure a job to build experience. After working for a short while in a dream job in Vancouver as a charter pilot, the company shut down operations after only a few months. I was back in search mode and I started to become disillusioned about how volatile this career was. In 1996, after working various jobs in retails, sales, and my own self employed business as an agent, I decided to take another trip to Italy.
Now I was 25 and I had a much more adult foundation as to what I truly felt back as a 15 year old. I confirmed that I was in fact still as passionate as the first time, and then some. Now as I flew in the huge jet across the atlantic ocean, I had the knowledge and background with me, and I knew I was on the path to achieving this goal. In 1997, I attended the University of North Dakota at UND Aerospace, graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Aeronautical Science degree in Air Transport and also attained my FAA Commercial Pilot License for the USA.
Unfortunately, another obstacle was I could not use this great education in the very country I attained it...immigration did not allow me to stay in the country without a Green Card. At this point, my student loans and support from my family exceeded over $120,000 in training and living expenses. In 2000, shortly after graduation, I returned to Italy and began studying for the itailan pilot exams, and yet another obstacle...everything was written in Italian and I had to write the exams in italian. I translated everything, studied for 9 months, and then finally took the exams. I passed them and just before I was ready to undergo the practical flight tests, the events of September 11th rocked the world and my sense of direction was suddenly stunned. There went another $25000 and yet another obstacle.
I returned home and once again began to reassess my options. Well, while in a long term relationship with my ex girlfriend from 2001 to just this past April 2008, I ended it. During all that time, I could not let go of my desire to return to Italy nor to abandon all the hard work and sacrifice to become an Airline Pilot. And so for me, the Hero's journey began and I once again would face the trials and tribulations of achieving this goal. I took it upon myself to take the pinnacle step in opening up a huge opportunity for myself.
The airline pilot exams for the United Kingdom are regarded as the toughest in the world, for they carry the most depth of knowledge for any commercial civil pilot license. I studied for over a year and end of October, passed all 14 theoretical exams with an overall of 91%. I had exceeded all my expectations and the sacrifices, night and day with books in hand, paid off. And so that leads me to today. I am only a few months away from acquiring my pilot licene for Europe and will able to use it anywhere in the EU. Italy of course, is where I will be headed, and if following my bliss has given me this amazing journey (and struggle) thus far, my heart tells me Italy is waiting for me.
I will keep you all posted this spring as to the outcome, but after over 17 years, on and off, touch and go, obstacle to obstacle, my heart has taken me within a few months of two blisses for me....I see it as approaching the summit...one for my sense of purpose, the other for my career and livelihood. If I can achieve both of these, I know Joseph Campbell would be proud. I also determined through a bit of research that I will be the only person of my family's last name in the whole world, to be a certified pilot in Canada, USA, and the European Union.
After that, it's just a matter of putting on the uniform, climbing to 40,000 feet, and thanking Joseph Campbell for giving me the tools to face the journey which soon, will have a happy ending. Besides Italy and my career, I have begun a trilogy of novels that involve the new mythology, Gaia, and have prepared the drafts and begun the first chapters. I am hoping to have the first of them published by next fall. All I can say is, follow your heart, listen to its voice and hence, your intuition, and never let anyone convince you otherwise. It's a beautiful adventure, testing your preserverence and sense of resolve, and it makes you a better person for it. Sometimes, feeling your way through life is far more comforting than just thinking about it.
I wish you all safe and exciting journeys on your pathway to bliss and may it always bring you to what it truly exists for - the transcendence to the raptures of the Universe. When you achieve it, and in my case almost there, I feel as if I coming home and have truly arrived in this lifetime. << Back
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