The Hero’s Journey – Joseph Campbell
Joseph Campbell was probably the greatest discoverer and promoter of Mythology. He lived a fascinating and long life. He first started with a curiosity about North American Myths and explored the world of mythology across all cultures and peoples. He discovered that they are all essentially the same. He also proposed that they are a metaphor for our human experience. He called it a Hero’s Journey. This is the three-act structure of an individual’s life.
It’s worth reflecting where you might be in your Journey. The three stages are Separation, Initiation, and Return.
Separation is a major event in your life that causes you to lift your eyes up off the mundane of everyday life to ask the questions that have always been in your heart -What’s my Life’s Purpose, why am I here? ; and What will give my life meaning? This may come from an accident, a relationship breakdown, a health scare etc. Anything that jolts you and wakes you up.
Initiation is the road to face your demons, your worries, your challenges or current life circumstances. It’s where you discover, from facing your fears and your mortality that you have always possessed the power to face and overcome everything that the road has to throw up against you. The Hero’s Journey is the magic of living this existence, of the fun and adventure inherent in the process of discovery of who you are.
Thirdly, the Return back to where you were with a completely different Mindset. Everything has changed and yet nothing has changed. It reminds me of a story about Enlightment that I’ll share in a later blogpost. So many of the major films that have been so successful over time follow this format and reflect, through their success, our innate desire to take our own Hero’s Journey and make our lives a Great Adventure.
