The Hero's journey

The greatest obstacle we face in life is ourselves

“We have not even to risk the adventure alone
for the heroes of all time have gone before us.
The labyrinth is thoroughly known ...
we have only to follow the thread of the hero path.
And where we had thought to find an abomination
we shall find a God.

And where we had thought to slay another
we shall slay ourselves.
Where we had thought to travel outwards
we shall come to the centre of our own existence.
And where we had thought to be alone
we shall be with all the world.”
Joseph Campbell

I came across something today that felt so exciting, it lit me up, I was saying – ‘yes, yes, yes’ (but not ‘I’ll have what she’s having’).

I have recently joined my local U3A, which stands for University of the third age. It is a national organisation with local groups all across the country. It’s for old fogies like me to socialise and learn new things.

Every month there is a meeting with a guest speaker and the title of today’s talk was ‘Ancient Wisdom’. The presenter started talking about ancient cave drawings and I was prepared to nod off, when he started talking about Joseph Campbell and The Hero’s journey. I immediately woke up – now this is something I’m interested in as I am writing a book and reinventing my life at the age of 69.

Campbell was born in America in1904 and died in 1987. He was a professor of literature and researched ancient cultures and their myths and stories. He realised that all myths and stories are based on the same model which he called the monomyth – ‘The Hero’s journey’ which he wrote about in his book ‘The Hero with a thousand faces’.

George Lucas studied his theories and created Star Wars using this model. Campbell theorises that every story is based on this model; there is only one story and it is also our story. We are all on a hero’s journey and we are the hero of our own story.

We gain superpowers from the struggles we go through and return home completely changed as a result if we have the courage to face our fears, slay our dragons, find our bliss and stop fighting ourselves.

The first stage in the journey is the ‘call to action’. This is the wake up call, think of Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, Neo in The Matrix or Harry Potter. They are going about their regular everyday lives when something happens to transport them into an adventure.

The key point of the call to action is that we have to answer that call. If we ignore it, it will keep calling until we answer. This is the Universe calling, urging us to take some action – it could be a tickle or a sledgehammer. It often comes when we are in the depths of despair – this is what happened to me. My son dying was my call to action, my life changed overnight and I found myself on a journey I never wanted to start and I was terrified but I knew I had to keep going on the journey to get through it and out the other side. I am the hero of my own journey.

This is the call we need to catapult us into the next version of ourselves. The Universe has upended us which gives us the opportunity to step into our power and take on the challenge.

We can be a victim or a hero – we get to choose at this stage of the journey. This stage often happens when we just say ‘enough’ and realise we can be responsible for our own adventure.

“We must be willing to get rid of the life we planned to have the life that is waiting for us”

Joseph Campbell

We have the ability to transcend the worst thing that happens to us, and who we are is in part because we had to face it and journey through it.

We may have to go into a dark forest, but mustn’t take the path we see, if a path appears, we must make our own path. By doing this we discover who we truly are for ourselves and not what others think of us or by taking a path someone else has laid out because they think it is best/right for us.

“If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know it's not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take. That's why it's your path.” Joseph Campbell

Campbell says we must ‘find our bliss’. We have to find it for ourselves to truly discover who we are. We must trust our deep impulses and find out what makes us feel most alive. We get to decide who we listen to; always the choice is ours.

“When we follow our bliss The Universe will open doors where there were only walls” Joseph Campbell

The thing that keeps most people from reaching the top of the mountain is FEAR.

In order to be the hero of our story we need to face our fear. Courage is not about feeling fear, it is facing it. If you fall, get up and start again, but never give up. This is slaying our dragons and this gives us our power. Our fear is not that we are inadequate our greatest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be?” Marianne Williamson

Luke Skywalker went into the cave to fight Darth Vader and when he cut his head off – the helmet opens and he sees his own face. We are fighting ourselves. The greatest obstacles we face on our journey are ourselves.

Learn to love your dragons, stop fighting yourself, face fear and grow beyond it. Love and accept yourself as you are.

“The privilege of a life is being who you are” Joseph Campbell

At the end of the journey we always come back with the treasure – but the treasure was the journey. The final step is to speak about your journey through your life, this will change the lives of others. This is what I hope to do with the book I’m writing.

My call to action was my son dying, my journey began 14 years ago and I am the hero, I have the power to slay the dragons, return home and tell my story

After she died I found this poem my mum had copied into a notebook – it really describes the hero’s journey beautifully and I often come back to it.

If you found this as inspiring as I did, I recommend you watch the movie ‘Finding Joe’ on YouTube – link at the bottom.

Ithaka - C.P. Cavafy

As you set out for Ithaka

hope your road is a long one,

full of adventure, full of discovery.

Laestrygonians, Cyclops,

angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:

you’ll never find things like that on your way

as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,

as long as a rare excitement

stirs your spirit and your body.

Laestrygonians, Cyclops,

wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them

unless you bring them along inside your soul,

unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope your road is a long one.

May there be many summer mornings when,

with what pleasure, what joy,

you enter harbours you’re seeing for the first time;

may you stop at Phoenician trading stations

to buy fine things,

mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,

sensual perfume of every kind—

as many sensual perfumes as you can;

and may you visit many Egyptian cities

to learn and go on learning from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.

Arriving there is what you’re destined for.

But don’t hurry the journey at all.

Better if it lasts for years,

so you’re old by the time you reach the island,

wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,

not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvellous journey.

Without her you wouldn't have set out.

She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.

Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,

you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

As you set out for Ithaka

hope your road is a long one,

full of adventure, full of discovery.

Laestrygonians, Cyclops,

angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:

you’ll never find things like that on your way

as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,

as long as a rare excitement

stirs your spirit and your body.

Laestrygonians, Cyclops,

wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them

unless you bring them along inside your soul,

unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope your road is a long one.

May there be many summer mornings when,

with what pleasure, what joy,

you enter harbours you’re seeing for the first time;

may you stop at Phoenician trading stations

to buy fine things,

mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,

sensual perfume of every kind—

as many sensual perfumes as you can;

and may you visit many Egyptian cities

to learn and go on learning from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.

Arriving there is what you’re destined for.

But don’t hurry the journey at all.

Better if it lasts for years,

so you’re old by the time you reach the island,

wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,

not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.

Without her you wouldn't have set out.

She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.

Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,

you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

* Laestrygonians were a tribe of man-eating giants in Greek mythology