The Hero’s Journey Is Real – How The Hero’s Journey Plays Out In Your Own Life

There is much discussion in Hollywood, entrepreneurial circles, academia, and elsewhere about “The Hero’s Journey.”

But there is something we may all forget when we only consider The Hero’s Journey as something to use to craft a compelling movie or market products more effectively as entrepreneurs.  Namely, The Hero’s Journey is real.

The Hero’s Journey Is Real

What do I mean when I say this?  As we evolve to higher levels of consciousness, there is a process which often unfolds.  We exist at a certain level of awareness and functionality.  This is stable and usually relatively contented.  Then, unexpectedly, something happens.  An illness strikes.  We lose our job or career,  A partner betrays us (or we commit some unethical act ourselves).  You slump into an inexplicable malaise.  Or something else. 

The Murky Depths

In short, we have slumped down into an abyss of confusion–with no obvious way out and no solution on the horizon.  This is sometimes called the Dark Night Of The Soul when it reaches an intense enough pitch, but these lapses into a Slough Of Despond often occur several times over the course of a single lifetime to greater and lesser degrees. 

Hoping For Light….

But There Is An Upside To The Cycle

Think of the crises you have been through in your own life.  Think of what you learned and who you became on the other end.  Yes, sometimes tragic loss hits and leaves us permanently scarred.  I won’t deny that.  But many of these drops down into the murky unknown are part of the process of breaking free from limits to our own awareness and understanding of life.  We come through the other side having matured, learned, and grown tremendously.

The Hero’s Journey Is A Part Of Life

This cycle of stability, descent, anguish, confronting challenges, and ascent back up as something better, brighter, and more awake than before is a part of life.  (It is also, by the way, expressed in the symbol of the phoenix.)  I do not claim that being aware of The Hero’s Journey makes the process of dropping down into the murk of confusion significantly easier, but we all do benefit to some degree by recognizing this process and even embracing it where possible as part of the process of growth.

The Hero’s Journey is a real phenomenon in life.  Do what you can when you find yourself groping in the depths, and know that there is an even better you on the far side of the journey.

I Wish You Well

Wherever you may be on the path of life, I wish you well.