THE HERO’S JOURNEY
A client told me I should put this on my blog, so here it is.
A hero is one who reluctantly, sometimes vehemently, avoids the journey, the task that has been
put forth ahead of him. But the forces of life keep reminding him that he must accomplish this
feat, task, journey if he is to find peace in his life.
So, eventually, no matter what age, he begins. He must endure many hardships, many wrong
turns, trials and tribulations even before he confronts the final challenge: he must slay the
dragon, the beast that is damaging everyone and everything around him. He knows there is a
damsel in distress that he must rescue before he can complete his mission.
This is the story that we have always heard about heroes. But just suppose we began to see ourselves as heroes? Let’s take that metaphor and apply it to our own lives. How many feats, tasks, journeys, blind alleys, dead ends, detours do we take along our journey of life that end up with unhappiness and frustration? Just suppose we are having these experiences to prepare us for our own hero’s journey? Who are we rescuing? What is the dragon? Do we really want to have to endure all this? Is this what life is all about; just one crisis, one trauma, after another?
We are our own heroes. We must take on the journey of self discovery, hunt down the perils of
hurt, pain, fear, doubt and uncertainty and reclaim the truth of who we truly are, not what has
happened to us. So we begin the journey. We read, study, maybe join a self-help group. We slowly learn there is more to life than just existing. But something deeper is stirring. We know
we much push farther, go deeper, to find the truth.
The Hero’s Journey Continues
We must confront the “dragon” of our worst fear. That fear is different for each of us, which makes it so much more of a challenge. This is a task we must face for ourselves. No one can do it for us. It is our own dragon; it belongs to no one else. So we proceed to go about preparing to confront our dragon: our worst fear.
So, what is the reason we feel compelled to take this journey? In the story books the purpose is
to rescue the fair maiden. Once again we apply the metaphor to our own lives. Rarely do we
recognize that what we are searching for exists deep within ourselves. What we rescue is that
part of ourselves that we lost along the way of letting life live us, instead of us living the life we
were truly meant to have. We rescue the tender, caring, unconditional love that we are all meant
to have and to be. The part of us that gets buried under all the chaos, trauma, and/or abuse we
have endured and continue to endure until we reach a point that we can no longer continue to
exist under those circumstances.
Many people at this point seek individual counseling. Just like in the stories, we need a mentor,
a guide, a wise person, who gives us the map, the path and provides us with hints, messages, that
are veiled in symbolism and we must interpret how it applies to us.
Again, just like in the stories of heroes, we can then live “happily ever after”. We can live in the
peace of being who we truly are and are meant to be.
THE HERO’S JOURNEY is always moving forward.
Check out my other Blogs here!