The Hero’s Journey – My Travel Diary

I recently attended the 2-day program titled The Hero’s Journey facilitated by Rahoul Joshii. This is the first time I attended a workshop partly on gut instinct and partly based on user review and feedback. It is commonplace for us to trust the wisdom of the crowd but when it comes to self-development it was difficult for me to trust ratings given by strangers. I finally decided to take the plunge. Firstly because the framework is of great interest to me and secondly because my gut told me so. Here is what I discovered in the process

The Framework

I was first introduced to the work of Joseph Campbell and the monomyth during my writing workshops. In that context, I learned that all good stories, stories that we remember and make an impact on us, follow a similar pattern. It was a simple lesson for me as I was looking to get better at telling stories from my own personal and professional life.

As Akshay Gajria of Tall Tales would tell us during these workshops the only difference between Humans and other animals is we make and tell stories to each other.

It is fascinating to note about work that started in 1871 and concluded in some sense with Joseph Campbell’s book in 1949 is relevant even today. Our style of constructing stories has not really changed. The overall structure of the framework is very relatable. You can start to see this in the movies that you have loved. (This has altered the way I watch movies).

The framework is an extremely exciting narrative. It drew me to itself on its own. When I learned about this program based on the framework applied to self-development, I was intrigued. My initial tentative nature soon got cleared post discussions with a few past participants and decided to jump into the adventure.

Who Is A Hero

Everyone is a Hero of their own life. I am a hero for my kids. Just like my dad was a hero to me. My mother was my hero for the longest period. But we all know that when we realize that heroes are humans too is when our heart breaks. It is balancing this polarity of being human and being a hero (aka Salman Khan) is what we need to learn.

The homework for this workshop was to watch 3 movies specified by Rahoul. And when the homework is to watch movies with a different lens the workshop looked yummy.

I noticed, the protagonist in all movies, given as homework, is male. The equality hero in me awoke. Along with the rebel. We discussed and agreed that the hero is a gender-neutral term in the context of the workshop. It’s then I realized the dearth and need for more stories of heroism by a woman to be included in our narrative at every level.

In the room were 14 individuals with a healthy gender balance and that helped me relax. It also helped as I was consciously aware of my need to get in touch with the feminine within. Doing that in presence of women felt more natural than with men. Though I ended up exploring most of these conversations with other men in the room.

Imagine- Attract – Create

I have a strong belief in being able to shape your own destiny. This has resulted in surrounding myself with positive people and thoughts. The other belief is to imagine what you want to create. Once you can imagine it you may attract it and create it.

But then what is the difference between fate and destiny? In my opinion, fate is the call to adventure that you would get. We all get a different call to adventure in our life. It will vary in our life stages. In my early life, my call to adventure was to ensure financial upliftment.

Having secured it to an extent, it stopped serving its purpose and hence a new call to adventure had to appear. It isn’t a coincidence this 2^nd call to adventure appears in our life in the 2^nd half. This is also called the mid-life crisis. Though some people argue about existence. I can certainly say I am in the middle of one and know a few other souls who are in it. Though I have an objection to the word crisis and not so much to the word mid-life. Hence, I prefer to call it the 2^nd turn. The twist after the interval in a movie.

Engaging with the framework from a self-development lens allowed me to look at my life events like a movie. And we all know anything is possible in a movie. So, when I looked at my life events through this lens certain patterns of my behavior became more real. Some I was conscious about and a few I wasn’t. This discovery process was aided by large and small group conversations. I was helping others and that process itself was helping me.

This thus became my biggest learning of the session. I was carrying the burden of solving my own challenges on my shoulder. I realized that ridiculously resources intensive and extremely unjoyful journey. Instead, if I engage with others and trying to help them discover their knots, I can probably untie a few in me.

The Mentor

We all seek one. I have always sought mentors in all spheres of my life. In fact, in one of my early self-development works, the image I was given was of Hanuman in Search of his Ram. That felt so right and even today does for me. I have always believed that a mentor who is wiser, smarter and preferably older than me is all I need.

I have been fortunate to have met my mentors at different times. They have come in all forms and genders. I rediscovered this during the workshop and realized that mentor need not necessarily be an individual. It could even be a group. Like the group of 14 of us who had gathered together. We didn’t know each other before the workshop, and we may not even meet in person in a planned manner again. Yet we were willing to be each other’s mentors in the moment.

I will steal a line from Rahoul here – “Not every transformation is a process. Some transformation is just an event”

Nadir

The good part of hitting the rock bottom is, the only way from there is up. I don’t remember whose line is this or in which movie this has been used. But it is an extremely positive phrase for anyone who is feeling down and out. And I have been in that phase for a while. Despite certain positive things happening, I chose to look at the darker sides.

The Arabic meaning of nadir is the counterpart. And it’s so true. There can not be a zenith without a nadir. There cannot be light without a shadow. In all stories of heroism, we have seen the hero hit rock bottom. She then makes a choice to rise above the gloom and doom to become a transformed individual.

The 3 stages outlined in this phase are very relatable. Your goddess and temptress could well be an image or projected on a person. It could also be a craft. I found mine in my craft and in a person. I am most grateful for having met both.

The atonement with father is another very real and relatable topic for me. I have had a very difficult relationship with my father. I finally could find closure through the craft and chose to present my story to a room full of strangers. That process helped me heal. It’s when that happened, I realized how much energy was being trapped there. I felt and continue to feel connected and loved by my father. It’s a very different feeling than I felt earlier.

What’s Next

I did realize and relate to the framework through my life events and stories. My belief that things happen for a reason got further strengthened. Felt extremely blessed and grateful about being able to do this at this stage.

The journey will continue knowing it’s not an easy ride. But now have the confidence that help and mentors will appear magically. There is hope, the wisdom to recognize the signals and respect the help, will exist.

I hope that I can be the help and mentor in your journey. It could well be my path to apotheosis.