By Japhy Gregor
Joseph Campbell is known for his works describing and exploring the origins of the monomyth known as the Hero’s Journey. Boiled down to the basics, the Hero’s Journey is a narrative pattern that can be used to plot the basic story-structure of every tale humankind has ever told.
The monomyth tracks the three act structure that all plays and movies follow. The first act is the departure from the protagonist’s normal reality. The second is the initiation into the special world where the protagonist undergoes trials. The third is the the return to the ordinary world via a transformative climax.
Even if you have never heard of the Hero’s Journey, you have undoubtedly been inundated with this universal story structure countless times since your birth. Every children’s story incorporates this basic structure into this plot.
What does this mean for our everyday experiences?
If the Hero’s Journey is truly a universal plot for all stories, that means that this universal plot is hardwired into our own psyche.
You are also in the midst of the Hero’s Journey.
You are a hero.
Just like every movie you have ever seen, you are probably reluctant to embrace the role of the hero. You crave continuity and comfort. You don’t want to seek out danger or peril.
But we all know that life does not offer continual comfort and safety. Change lurks behind every corner, and with it comes danger and peril.
We all are constantly crossing the threshold into the beginning of transformation. We struggle. Hopefully, we transform and prevail.
These experiences are universal to the human condition.
Understanding the structure of the Hero’s Journey can help us identify what stage of the journey we may find ourselves at any particular moment.
Maybe you have been stuck at the threshold for too long, resisting the inevitable plunge into the underworld because you hope to cling on to the known world forever.
Maybe you are in midst of numerous challenges and temptations and don’t know why you have been signaled out for such suffering.
Regardless of where you are in the cycle of a specific journey, learning about the stages of the Hero’s Journey can help you navigate the underworld and return transformed into a new known world with gifts for the rest of humanity.
With an understanding of the Hero’s Journey, you can apply a framework to your everyday experiences to provide context to what otherwise may seem like endless chaos and suffering. If you embrace the role of the hero, you can face the struggles with confidence that they will lead to transformation and re-emergence into the known world with new gifts and powers.
If we all embraced the role of hero, we would could recognize the gifts and powers that we all already have from our countless journeys into the underworld. We could share those gifts with confidence, and our experiences would be more than our personal stories. Our experiences would be the basis of improving the lives of others and making the world a better place.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed herein are those of the author. No idea or thought of any person, religion, philosophy, or school of thought is held as an established belief for Experientialism. The author has shared his thoughts in this article for the purposes of aiding in the self-exploration of reality through the reader’s own experiences.