A Hero’s Journey

Hello friends!

Last week we celebrated May 4th as Star Wars Day – May the Force be With You! There were lots of clever Yoda puns in the media. The Star Wars epic story has had quite an impact on our culture.

It reminded me of the Joseph Campbell definition of the hero’s journey. Campbell was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College. He said that a hero’s journey is an archetypal story pattern, common in ancient myths as well as modern day literature. The basic story is that someone feels called to go on a quest.

We see this storyline present in many novels and movies – Star Wars, The Odyssey, The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Harry Potter series, The Lion King, the list goes on and on.

Campbell plumbed the depths of this topic. There are many books out there about it and here I am, summarizing it for you in 3 easy steps:

Step 1 - The departure. The hero leaves the familiar world behind.

Step 2 - The initiation. The hero learns to navigate the unfamiliar world.

Step 3 - The return. The hero returns to the familiar world – hopefully changed for the better by the adventure.

Again, that’s a super simple summary. Campbell breaks down each of those 3 steps into many other pieces. His theory is that heroes are on a quest – they journey and learn. They return - often better than when they started.

The process can repeat itself over and over again.

We can be the Luke Skywalker, the Odysseus, the Harry Potter of our own story. Taking those steps to go on the journey and then returning to the familiar. We are the same, but we are changed – hopefully better than when we started.

But we needn’t travel to Ithaca. Or Hogwarts. The journey starts within. It can start on our mat.

Please join me.

Love you I do!

Nina G