The Hero’s Journey:
A mudmap for solving life’s problems.
The Hero’s Journey is the ever-recurring story that appears in cultures across time. Essentially it’s the story of a person whose life changes and the problems begin. Whether it’s the story of David Copperfield, Alice in Wonderland, Luke Skywalker or Hamlet, life has changed and problems must be resolved.
Regardless of the thousands of hero’s journey stories ever told, read or watched, the hero’s journey repeatedly shows the problem is only resolved when the hero is transformed when the hero makes personal changes.
Sound familiar? The story of the Hero’s Journey mimics every life ever lived: change brings problems. The hero’s journey is a template for all of us in navigating change and problem resolution.
What is the Hero’s Journey?
The Hero’s Journey is the story that’s been retold forever in a million different ways. At the beginning of these stories, we’re introduced to the main character, the hero, and then how their life is often unexpectedly changed forever.
The remainder of the story is how the hero navigates the change and resolves the problem.
It’s the story of Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Hamlet, David Copperfield, Harry Potter, Rei, and Luke Skywalker, Elizabeth Bennett, Frodo, etc. Though each story looks vastly different, underneath something essential remains the same.
Every hero is forced to personally change and the problem is only resolved when the hero masters these new changes. The hero at the end of the story is not the same person as at the beginning.
The story of each hero is the story of each hero navigating the infinite obstacles that stand in their way of resolving their All heroes must attempt scary, often dangerous tasks with each task taking them one step closer to resolving their problem. Things never go to plan, but the problem is resolved, the hero changed forever.
Why the Hero’s Journey
As a psychologist, the last thing I wanted to do was to write a book on navigating life and problem solving without a shred of evidence. I kept quiet about my use of the hero’s journey as a tool for psychological wellbeing for about 10 years.
Then I got sneaky. I began slipping it into groups and classes, linking it to evidence-based skills along the way. The reaction was hunger. Almost everyone already had a good idea of what a hero’s journey was, regardless of age, gender or culture. Applying the metaphor of the hero’s journey to their everyday lives opened them up to a different story of their own life, of their own agency and of their own need to change. As a psychologist, every day I meet people in the midst of navigating change. The hero’s journey has proved to be a powerful tool in providing some order to what feels like chaos, in providing direction when people feel lost.
What's in this book?
A Story About.
Problem solving your life
In other words, every Hero’s Journey is the story of how someone solved a major life problem yet came to have a life much more rewarding than their old life. Get the idea?
Transformation
Above all, in every hero’s journey, heroes are changed. The person we meet at the beginning of the story is not the same person at the end.
Your life as a Hero's Journey?
What if the Hero’s Journey is repeated across time as it reflects what happens in our lives?
