Tag Archives: Hero’s Journey

3 Personal Reflections on the Hero’s Journey

I once set out to go around the world and travel continuously in one direction to make a complete circle of the globe. I accomplished that goal but not without the challenges of a hero’s journey. A few things I see upon reflection:

1. You might get stumped on Step 6 (Tests, Allies, Enemies), don’t give up then. Don’t let the first challenge or new friends derail you from your journey. Especially the first people. It was exciting to be in Bali, a place I had dreamt of visiting. But instead of painting in Bali as I was planning to do, I let the people I met distract me. Don’t succumb to these decoys if you can help it.

2. The Rule of Three applies on your journey. Expect to encounter at least three big challenges (see 6, 8 and 10). I stuck with my journey in spite of the distractions and was savvy enough by the third test to say, no, I’m going to do things differently this time.

1. The Ordinary World
2. The Call to Adventure
3. Refusal of the Call
4. Meeting with the Mentor
5. Crossing the First Threshold
6. Tests, Allies, Enemies
7. Approach to the Inmost Cave
8. Supreme Ordeal
9. Reward (Seizing the Sword)
10. The Road Block
11. Resurrection
12. Return with the Elixir

3. Traveling long distances is NOT required for a hero’s journey. We go on hero’s journeys all the time. We are constantly being tested. In fact I’m on one now. It’s between my ears.

Happy Travels to you this New Year!

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Anatomy of a Story: Twelve Steps to Herohood

While researching Joseph Campbell and following your biliss, I found the website of Scott Myers to be a helpful resource for screenwriting. His post on September 14, 2010 talks about the Hero’s Journey in Campbell’s book (first published in 1949), The Hero With a Thousand Faces. George Lucas, Jim Morrison, Bob Weir, and Mickey Hart are among the many artists who have credited Campbell’s book as influential in their work.

Campbell’s research into the structure of myths throughout history show this common structure. An overview of those twelve steps is below. Can you identify with currently being in any of these stages?

Act 1
1. The Ordinary World
2. The Call to Adventure
3. Refusal of the Call
4. Meeting with the Mentor

Act 2
5. Crossing the First Threshold
6. Tests, Allies, Enemies
7. Approach to the Inmost Cave
8. Supreme Ordeal
9. Reward (Seizing the Sword)
10. The Road Block

Act 3
11. Resurrection
12. Return with the Elixir

The following video is a discussion about those twelve steps by Christopher Vogler, author of “The Writer’s Journey, Mythic Structure for Storytellers & Screenwriters.”

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