I’ve been a fan of the late mythologist Joseph Campbell for many, many years. In his many books on myth, including his classic The Hero With a Thousand Faces, as well as a great PBS series, The Power of Myth, with Bill Moyers , Campbell documented myths from around the world but more importantly showed how intimately they related to our individual lives. Campbell showed us that we all had lives that very much followed the patterns that ran through the classic myths of all cultures.
In short, we are all, in our own way, heroes. We may not slay dragons or find great treasures, but we all at a point experience some form of the hero’s journey.
There’s a wonderful animated short film called What Makes a Hero? from TED Ed and educator Matthew Winkler that succinctly illustrates Campbell’s premise, including the eleven stages of the hero’s journey. It’s a delightful short that will hopefully help you to begin to see the mythic elements that make up your own life.
Redtree Times 