The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.
~Joseph Campbell
Most people, to quote Thoreau, “lead lives of quiet desperation” that are only partially fulfilling or meaningful. We rush around the perimeter of our lives, busy with trying to “make” a living rather than simply accepting the state of being fully alive. Easily getting caught up in the outer reality, we rarely slow down long enough to question or inquire into the quality of our inner life. Who am I? What do I long for? Where am I going? What brings me alive? Most of the time we live cut off from this type of inner contemplation and can feel quite stuck in the habits and ways of living that are familiar and safe. And many of us are aware of these inner promptings but lack a clear understanding of how to bridge the gap between inner and outer realities.
Joseph Campbell was a great teacher of mythology and comparative religion. His most famous line: “follow your bliss” has become a well known phrase used to inspire and uplift, but really only reveals a portion of the message and can easily induce a fantasy of what it is to be a true human. The full quote gives a better sense of what one is signing up for in following the call to a heroic life:
Follow your bliss.
The heroic life is living the individual
adventure.
There is no security
in following the call to adventure.
Nothing is exciting if you know
what the outcome is going to be.
To refuse the call
means stagnation.
What you don’t experience positively
you will experience negatively.
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.
In his work, Campbell outlined eight major stages that one must pass through to become the hero of your own life. The hero journey is a universal story that we see throughout mythology, literature and across all religious traditions. Very briefly, the eight stages are: following the call to adventure, crossing thresholds, entering the forest, encountering ordeals, discovering allies, being in the belly of the beast, discovering the boon, and returning home. It is a cyclical journey where one is called away from the familiar, often through a significant challenge or difficulty that disrupts the status quo, into the wild terrain of the unconscious psyche. The hero encounters extreme difficulty (lifelong saboteurs, past traumas, etc.) and must face and slay the dragon (that which we most fear) in order to recover a lost treasure (our individual “bliss”). Returning to the very place from which we started--home--we must complete the journey by offering the jewel to the world. Each of our unique lives is the myth that we must live out to realize our full potential and actualize our gifts to serve the world.
Over the course of four months, I have been fortunate enough to experience this journey through the expert guidance of Michael Mervosh (http://www.herosjourneyfoundation.org) in an online class called “Walking in Two Worlds.”
Michael is a soulful, engaged, down-to-earth guide that weaves Campbell’s work with poetry, music and meditation to offer a way across the thresholds of consciousness. Being a part of a community of adventurers in the bi-monthly webcasts as well as the ability to connect with a smaller “ally” group via regular telephone conference calls, has made the experience incredibly transformative. Ultimately, we all must make the journey for ourselves, but to have the support and encouragement of others is an essential component.
Campbell said, “If you want to help this world, what you will have to teach is how to live in it.” As I continue in my own journey I am reflecting deeply on that advice. I know that I am called to serve as a bridge between worlds. I am passionate about creating a clear and conscious connection to our bodies as the vehicle for the journey and forging a deeper relationship within our minds and hearts to contain and bring forth our essential qualities. It is through the alignment and integration of the three: body-mind-heart that the conditions are created to find and follow our bliss.
I have decided to offer an introduction to each stage in my monthly discussion group, Soul Matters. Beginning in February, we will meet the third Thursday of the month at One Yoga and Fitness, and discuss the elements of the eight stages of the journey starting with "the call to adventure."
For more information on Michael’s online program and other opportunities go to:http://www.walkingintwoworlds.org
