The Hero's Journey

It's common to hear these words mentioned when speaking about a book. One of the basic tools of writing is understanding and using the hero's journey. Even if you're just reading a book for fun, you might think about the hero's journey. Simply put it's the essence of the book and the hero's struggle from nothing to something to a middle ground. The hero's journey is about learning.

The start of the journey begins in the confines of the familiar. Your character is in their normal life, perhaps a humdrum routine of the ordinary. Luke Skywalker is on his family's farm on Tatooine (Star Wars: A New Hope) and Harry Potter is living at Privet Drive with the Dursleys. Both of these characters yearn for something more, whether it's discovering the world beyond the stars or just moving out of a cupboard - they have dreams.

If I want to tie this into Island Whispers, Monica wants to leave the caves and explore the world above. The world below the surface, in the dark and twisting caverns, is all she has ever known.

Joseph Campbell has 17 stages to the hero's journey. However, I don't think it's necessary to explore every single one. There are many diagrams depicting it and it's easy enough to look up.

The next stage is breaking out of that familiar world and exploring the unfamiliar. For Luke, it's leaving Tatooine with Obi Wan and realizing that there's nothing left for him after the stormtroopers destroy the farm. Harry meets Hagrid and suddenly a wizarding world of magic opens up; he has been accepted to a school for witchcraft and wizardry: Hogwarts.

In Island Whispers, Monica meets Adam and begins to explore the land on the island. She chooses to continue expanding her knowledge and understanding of the world on her own.

Map of the Broken Bounty World
- In my novel, two bounty hunters go on a journey to
help a princess escape from her father.
Random insertion perhaps, but I plan to share more about
this novel in time...

This is a journey though and there will be trials and heartache before it's over. The hero loses their innocence. However, they persist and pursue their end goal. If we were logging this journey on a plot diagram, this would be where the steep uphill climb becomes jagged. We haven't reached the climax, but there are mini-challenges and pitfalls along the way that make the peak just out of reach.

Luke finds and rescues Princess Leia but they lose Obi Wan. Harry learns about Voldemort and discovers there is a secret item in the castle: The Sorcerer's Stone (or Philosopher's Stone, depending on which version you have). 

Monica learns that the outside world isn't as friendly and inviting as she imagined. She also comes to terms with the guy who wants to destroy what is good about the island. Her friend Damian is controlled and not himself, he doesn't recognize her and wants to hurt her.

Now, that peak - the climax - which seemed out of reach earlier? We're at the top of the mountain and the critical turning point in the story. It's all downhill from here. The most difficult challenge yet is faced and overcome (thus why it's a "hero's" journey). 

Luke battles against the Death Star and makes the one in a million shot. Harry faces off against Voldemort while the latter tries to get the stone from the Mirror of Erised. 

Monica fights against the Elder and his dark servants. She battles alongside friends, but the question is "is she strong enough to take on her foes and protect the ones she cares about?"

After that climax is reached, we start the return. The character completes the circle, but with more knowledge and experience. Their understanding of the world has deepened. They have changed.

Luke joins the rebel alliance and decides to become a jedi like his father. Harry returns to the Dursleys, but has a future of wizarding classes and facing Voldemort ahead of him. When he speaks to Dumbledore at the end, reliving his battle against Voldemort, our wise old man gives Harry some advice and answers to the harrowing events.

At the end of the battle, Monica has survived but she has to come to terms with the loss of Damian and her new position as the queen of the Haven. While leaving the caves at the beginning was meant to symbolize her freedom and escape from responsibilities, she is laden with guilt and duty at the end. She must return to the caves and take over the legacy of the former queen. She'll also need to forgive herself for her own role in Damian's demise.

A hero's journey is not pretty and not all of them get happy endings. Knowledge is a burden and a blessing, but the characters response is just as important. Their resilience in the face of obstacles has gotten them this far, how much farther will it take them?

Arizona Beauty and a Discussion on Perfection

I've been feeling a bit "out of it" for the past few weeks. Writing has lost its luster and life is a bit gray. A change was what I needed and thankfully I'd planned a trip to Arizona. This past week, I hiked, learned about the Codetalkers; viewed cliff dwellings, the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest, ate mutton, baked gluten free pumpkin donuts and spent time with one of the most wonderful people in the world: my mother.

I don't think it is uncommon for people to get in funks so my case is not unique. I know that eventually I'll get through it, but it sucks. It dampens my mood and creativity. 

I like to think that I've grown up a lot but I'm still learning and I'm far from perfect. Although that's a loaded word. Perfection is in the eye of the beholder. If I asked a bunch of random strangers or even polled my friends, I guarantee that everyone would have a different definition. Achieving perfection is often seen as an unattainable goal. Our ideas of perfection are so high that they're just twinkling lights in the distance. Yet we may carelessly throw the word around in conversation and aspire for those perfect heights. 

We want to be "perfect" but is that really our best self?

Think about your definition of perfect. What qualities must someone embody to be perfect? What must they achieve? Putting that into words may be difficult. Perhaps it's easier to think of the negatives. What do you see as imperfections?

Now, what are the odds that someone can actually achieve that? What are the odds that they hit those points of perfection every day? Is your idea of perfection attainable?

Most likely not, but feel free to argue and explain. In my experience, we create pedestals too high for us to reach and too far away to admire. This can cause frustration.

So why are we setting ourselves unrealistic goals? Why do we strive for perfection, knowing that it's highly unlikely, and plow on "full steam ahead"?

Perhaps expectations play a role. Our expectations and the expectations of others. Take another look at your definition of perfection. Where did it come from? Have you heard some of these things from others? Do you hold yourself to these standards? Or do you hold others to them?

When your expectations and beliefs in perfection are not met, how do you react? What kind of self-talk goes through your head? I imagine that it's probably negative. I know mine is. I scold myself relentlessly for not meeting my standards or failing to achieve things. The problem is, I hold others to that as well, and when you do that you're setting yourself up for disappointment. Plus, you're likely isolating your friends and making enemies.

We may also project our expectations onto others or project our fears of judgment onto others. When we try to imagine what others are thinking, we can work ourselves up over nothing. Besides, you can't change someone's thoughts so why bother worrying over them. They may not even be thinking about you at all. 

To conclude on perfection, it's often an unreachable height that we set for ourselves based on expectations that we may have learned as children or as we grew up.  Any thoughts?

This image reminds me of sour cream and onion dip,
but it's really just snow-dusted rock and
the natural beauty of Arizona in winter.

Literature Lessons: On Supporting Others and Taking Care of Yourself

This image of the ocean and sky makes me think of Beautemps -
the city in the clouds - where the angels live and shed light
on the ground below. There are shadows and sunbeams present,
as evidence in this picture. (Just because they're angels, doesn't mean
they're always good!)

When Angelica hears about her friend's unicorn getting attacked, she knows she has to do something. Marcie is distressed because her partner is hurt and is not healing. The doctors/healers at the hospital are unable to do anything and don't understand the mechanisms of the insidious parasite.

This leads Angelica to a rash but daring plan. She's encountered a similar energy before and she's willing to do what it takes to help the unicorn.

When our friends are going through difficult times, we often want to spring into action and let them know that everything is going to be alright. We want to take care of them and help them however we can. We put all of our energy into it and we can feel exhausted after it all ends.

Giving and receiving are both important.

Giving our time, love and energy to others shows compassion, but we also need the reminder to give that same time, love and energy to ourselves.

So Angelica heals Marcie's unicorn and she passes out. She falls ill, feeling drained and sluggish because of how much work she put forth. This can often happen after we're activated. Our bodies are hyper alert for dangers, then they shut down from exhaustion and can lower our immune systems.

People that are "carers" and want to give the world to others may find themselves often exhausted and stretched thin. They give and give and give without receiving or giving to themselves. It's the plane analogy that drives an important concept home. When air pressure falls in the cabin and the masks drop down, you have to put your mask on first before you put on someone else's. While helping others can make us feel good and is beneficial to others, it can also be taxing on our health.

Angelica just gave lots of energy to helping Marcie and so it's no wonder that when she welcomes the help from Keith that she begins to feel better. Someone else is now giving to her and taking care of her which furthers the cycle. When we all look to aid others, we foster a community of people ready to look out for one another and support each other. However, it's not wrong or bad to be on the receiving end of aid and being open to help from others benefits the community too!

Book Review: September

When something emotional occurs, it's that moment after that can really hit hard.

Sometimes we are just exhausted. Sometimes we don't know what to do or we don't know how to start. It can be overwhelming to feel these things. It can be scary and we may want to shut down. That's where Rising Strong comes in. Rising Strong is about wrestling/rumbling with emotions and working yourself back up after the fall.

Brene Brown was inspired by Theodore Roosevelt's "Man in the Arena" speech, which I will post here for your edification. In Rising Strong, you can find this speech on pages (xx-xxi).

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly;...who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly."

The title of one of Brene Brown's other books is Daring Greatly by the way, in reference to that part of the speech. So, soak that in. It is the man who is facing everything that matters. Man or woman, I should say, but quotes from history are often gendered toward males. So, the person who is facing the challenges and is "marred by dust and sweat and blood" from their effort.

Brene Brown says, stop the story and focus on that point of being down on the ground before achievement occurs. When we're hurting, we generally want to shut ourselves off from the world or we want to lash out and find ways to protect ourselves. Sitting with vulnerability is uncomfortable, feeling shame or guilt can be unbearable, but the question is "will you try to bear it anyway?"

One thing that Brene Brown emphasizes is leaning into discomfort. She doesn't sugar-coat things and she states it plainly on the first page of the introduction: "You're going to stumble, fall, and get your ass kicked." You're going to feel hurt.

That's the truth of the situation, but she also says that it's worth it. It is worth the pain and the failure for the results achieved at the end, but before we get to those results, we need to figure out the middle and what happens there.

One of my favorite quotes from her is: "The middle is messy, but it's where the magic happens."

Brene Brown visited with Pixar's team and learned about their story process. They use the three act structure of storytelling with an emphasis on Joseph Campbell's "hero's journey." The team talked with Brene about their story process and one of the team members explained that the second act was the most difficult. The second act is when the work is done for the rising to take place.

That's when she came to the realization that you can't skip the middle or act two. You have to deal with it and go through the mess. That's when she began to investigate more. Early on in the book, Brene Brown has her "Lake Travis" story where she and her husband lean into vulnerability and have a constructive argument/disclosure. This story became something that she referred to often, but her realization at Pixar made her scrutinize it. Where was act II in all of that?

Act II was the story she was making up. The thoughts in her head and the torrent of emotions that bombarded her as she swam that day in Lake Travis. She went through so many imaginary conversations and ideas of how to address the situation. Most of them were focused on protecting herself and getting back at Steve, her husband. However, she decided to lean into vulnerability, "choosing courage over comfort" and try to connect with Steve and find out what was going on. Choosing that helped them as they worked through the images and rooted out the truth behind the emotions and thoughts.

Rising Strong addresses those rumbles through tough emotions using stories to demonstrate the concepts. Brene Brown says that there are three steps: the reckoning, the rumble, and the revolution.

A lot of this relates to what I'm learning for counseling, so think of Rising Strong as the self-improvement book that gives you the ability to connect with what you're feeling and work through it to lead a "wholehearted" life (to use Brown's words) and rise from the falls.

I suppose it's dramatic, but this book could really change your life. It's always your choice, but I believe that just learning about this will change the way you see the world. If you have the interest and the time definitely check out Rising Strong and see what it can inspire in you.