You know that one time you did that super hard thing that almost killed you? (But it didn’t.) And not only did it not take you out but you emerged smarter and stronger for it?
Wow. Good job. Honestly. That was some shit, and you survived it, then thrived it, and are now a shining example to the rest of us of HOW IT IS DUN. Bravo, you. F*cking, bravo.
The late, great Joseph Campbell calls this “The Hero’s Journey” and like you, others have taken this assy road to their awesome new life. They too were friggin’ gut-punched, clotheslined by life, shoved in the dirt, kicked, scoffed at, but somehow found the strength to crawl, snot-nosed and bleeding toward better.
EXHALE. APPLAUSE. HUG.
Even though you felt like you were alone, you weren’t. Others were right there with you, or had been, or might be about to endure the same pain for the same g-g-gain. Not that you should enjoy that information in a misery-loves-company kind of way but in an I-see-you kind of way. It helps to have some acknowledgment and understanding around such things. And you don’t just have The Hero’s Journey in common with your contemporaries, you share it with people who took the same kick-to-the-junk before we even used stone tools or knew what the hell a wheel was.
Campbell lays it all out in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, which you can totally read OR you can go on a rollicking adventure with us through the seventeen steps of The Hero’s Journey in episode 93 of Fix Your Chit. (Or both, overachiever.)
Also, fun fact, George Lucas said Campbell’s work inspired some flick called Star Wars or something.
K, friends, safe travels!
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© LCRI
