*The journey of ordinary heroes

“You enter the forest
at the darkest point,
where there is no path.

Where there is a way or path,
it is someone else’s path.

You are not on your own path.

If you follow someone else’s way,
you are not going to realize
your potential.”
― Joseph Campbell, The Hero’s Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life & Work

We are all the hero on our own journey. Heroes don’t always have to slay dragons, at least not literal ones. The journey is about the growth of the character, not the exact means that causes their growth. Getting married is a hero’s journey as much as traveling the world. Where are you on your way to your returning with the elixir?

Stage 1: the Ordinary World. This is us. This is you. This is me. This is the backstory. When writing, this is where we get to illustrate our character’s strengths and weaknesses and give a comfortable introduction to their world and how it has made them who they are. But how does it play out in our less-than-fantastical mundane real 3D lives?

What would we consider pertinent about a character’s base and background? Their family? Where they grew up? Language? Now apply that to yourself. I’ll be using myself as an example for most,if not all, of these stage descriptions because that’s who I know best after all.

What makes me me and what is important for a reader to know? Assumptions and traits build off of our first relationships.

Family & home:

1. only child
2. present father & mother
3. relatives were across the country over 1000 miles away *at this point you’ve already begun to form some ideas. But are there any extras that might illuminate, or push, future actions and choices? Add those because it will help tell the story of you later on.
4. alcoholism runs in family (father/aunts/uncles)

Environment:

1. United States, California *is this enough? It depends on who is reading. There are major assumptions about California, some will apply, others not at all. Here it’s Southern CA, near Malibu. What will apply later?
2. Time period before the call to adventure. 1960s – 1970s *add in all you can for yourself here. The politics, the pop culture, friends, education, religion, and even your favorite stories. It is all part of who you were in the before part of your tale.

That was what our ordinary world looked like. It was what brought a specific call to adventure to us. The call would have come in a different form if our ordinary world wasn’t built exactly like it was. The call to adventure can be repeated. It can be refused. But we all eventually accepted the call to adventure, because the life of our childhood had to be left behind and we had to move forward. Many of us were pushed out of our nests. If not all at once, at least bit by bit over time.

What exactly did that call to adventure look like to you? For some, it’s this wish to do something bigger or to go somewhere exotic. One of my favorite movies is ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’. The main character has his idea of his call to adventure, he wants to travel the world. But, the writers had a different call to adventure in store for him. His call to adventure was an adventure that kept him home. His call was an adventure in the growth of his spirit and his heart. A journey just as profound in growth as he had imagined his travels would be.

A lot of us though, didn’t have that internal call. Life was pretty good where we were. I certainly didn’t have anything much to complain about living in Southern California. But. There’s always a but at this point. Things started to go wrong. I had to suddenly drop out of college. I needed to move out of the family home. The universe was pushing me out of the nest and I didn’t really want to go. So, I tip-toed a few inches.

The universe, when it hands us the call to adventure doesn’t accept shuffling forward. It looks at our reticence and gives us a bigger push. The universe pushed and pushed, limiting my options until I relented and chose the call. It was a huge change and definitely started me off on my journey. I’m not sure I’d call the USAF recruiter a mentor, more like a tricky guide but once I signed the paperwork, that was definitely the crossing of the first threshold. Arriving at Lackland AFB, in San Antonio, Texas, fit the belly of the whale perfectly. I was committed to the path. Turning back, while possible, was no longer an option. I had left my old life behind. I didn’t realize it was actually dangerous until they started paying me extra money for hazardous duty.

That’s Stage 1 of my own hero’s journey as an example. We relate to this map of story crafting because it reflects our lives and all the stages we go through as we grow. You are on a hero’s journey of your own, whether you signed up knowingly or not. We all break a path, because each of us has our own journey.

This is the beginning of my exploration of how our lives echo the hero’s journey. Next stop: Stage 2 – Initiation.

I hope you enjoy this and can see how you are also the hero on the journey of transformation. Comments are welcomed, especially between each other.