{"id":29171,"date":"2022-10-20T12:50:25","date_gmt":"2022-10-20T19:50:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=29171"},"modified":"2022-10-20T12:50:25","modified_gmt":"2022-10-20T19:50:25","slug":"a-life-of-adventure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/a-life-of-adventure\/","title":{"rendered":"A Life of Adventure"},"content":{"rendered":"

The life of Stephen Hawking, as displayed in the movie <\/span>The Theory of Everything<\/span><\/i>, was largely marked by a search for a single, unifying theory that explains how everything works. When it comes to story-telling across history and societies, Joseph Campbell provides a unifying motif, known as the \u201chero\u2019s journey.\u201d One can argue that <\/span>The Hero with a Thousand Faces<\/span><\/i> is Campbell\u2019s \u201ctheory of everything\u201d for storytelling.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> The<\/span><\/i> Hero with a Thousand Faces<\/span><\/i> expounds on the normative structure of the hero\u2019s journey by providing examples from diverse times and places. He divides this journey into three main stages: \u201cseparation \u2013 initiation \u2013 return.\u201d<\/span>[1]<\/span> He then breaks these main stages into subsections that provide the framework of the hero\u2019s journey.<\/span>[2]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> The first subsection within the \u201cseparation\u201d stage is the call to adventure. This is Frodo enjoying life in the Shire, disrupted from his bliss, and invited by Gandalf the wizard to go out into the dangerous world beyond what he has always known. Campbell describes it this way, \u201c…destiny has summoned the hero and transferred his spiritual center of gravity from within the pale of this society to a zone unknown.\u201d<\/span>[3]<\/span> Dr. Edwin Friedman contends that whole societies can be stuck into a status quo, a regressed state that is more focused on safe, known, refusing to adventure into the unknown. Medieval Europe looked like this.<\/span>[4]<\/span> People were stuck with an archaic idea of the world \u2013 flat, the center of the solar system, and little concept for the great landmass across the Atlantic. But, in the spirit of adventure, Columbus \u201cswung open a door barely ajar\u201d and a new world was discovered (or, more accurately, stolen, which is a major detail Friedman failed to recognize).<\/span>[5]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> This opening of a door into coming across a new yet inhabited world, resulting in forever transforming one\u2019s understanding of the world in general connects, \u201cthreshold concepts\u201d with Campbell\u2019s \u201chero\u2019s journey.\u201d In Campbell\u2019s case, crossing the first threshold is the first step from the known world into the unknown. He equates this with Columbus\u2019 encouraging his crew forward into the adventure \u2013 \u201cbreaking the horizon of the medieval mind\u201d \u2013 despite their fears.<\/span>[6]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> Facing one\u2019s fears is a nonnegotiable in the hero\u2019s journey. If adventure was easy, risk-free, and calm, everyone would embark on the adventure. But this is not the case. Through the hero\u2019s journey, there are various trials one faces. From what I have observed in our society, we need to reframe trials from experiences to be avoided to opportunities for transformation. The trials in life open doors for growth. A life of ease means a life of refusing the call to adventure \u2013 remaining in the known world of the status quo. Venturing out into the unknown means one will face trials. For \u201cresisting the general blandishment\u201d means engaging with \u201cdanger.\u201d<\/span>[7]<\/span> But in these obstacles are opportunities to overcome and be transformed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because of these trials, the hero returns from the adventure, and everything is the same, though different, for the hero has transformed. These challenges have transformed the hero. The adventure of discipleship Jesus invites his disciples into will transform them into fishers of people (Matt. 4:19).<\/span><\/p>\n

It is clear Joseph Campbell\u2019s sexism excludes women from the hero\u2019s journey. James Parker of <\/span>The Atlantic<\/span><\/i> points out that \u201cof the hero\u2019s 1,000 faces, 999 are male.\u201d<\/span>[8]<\/span> However, <\/span>before us all is the invitation to adventure. In our lives we can choose between complacency (the status quo) or challenge by stepping out into the unknown in the spirit of adventure. Choosing the latter results in oneself being changed. This life of adventure is a life of meaning. We may imagine a life of ease is the life we desire. But a life of adventure, embracing challenge and facing our fears, is the meaningful life we truly desire. \u201c<\/span>It is by going down into the abyss<\/span> that we recover the treasures of life<\/span>. Where you stumble, there is your treasure. The very cave you enter turns out to be the source of what you are looking for.\u201d<\/span>[9]<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/span> Joseph Campbell, <\/span>The Hero with a Thousand Faces<\/span><\/i>, 3rd ed, Bollingen Series XVII (Novato, Calif: New World Library, 2008) 23.<\/span><\/p>\n

[2]<\/span> What Makes a Hero? – Matthew Winkler<\/span><\/i>, 2012, https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Hhk4N9A0oCA 00:57 – 01:03.<\/span><\/p>\n

[3]<\/span> Campbell, <\/span>The Hero with a Thousand Faces, 48<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

[4]<\/span> Friedman, <\/span>A Failure of Nerve, 26-27<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

[5]<\/span> Ibid. 36.<\/span><\/p>\n

[6]<\/span> Campbell, <\/span>The Hero with a Thousand Faces, 64<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

[7]<\/span> Ibid. 196.<\/span><\/p>\n

[8]<\/span> James Parker, \u201cJoseph Campbell\u2019s Woman Problem,\u201d The Atlantic, August 4, 2021, https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/magazine\/archive\/2021\/09\/maria-tatar-heroine-1001-faces\/619494\/.<\/span><\/p>\n

[9]<\/span> Joseph Campbell, <\/span>Reflections on the Art of Living: A Joseph Campbell Companion<\/span><\/i>, ed. Diane K. Osbon, Reprint edition (New York: Harper Perennial, 1995), 24.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The life of Stephen Hawking, as displayed in the movie The Theory of Everything, was largely marked by a search for a single, unifying theory that explains how everything works. When it comes to story-telling across history and societies, Joseph Campbell provides a unifying motif, known as the \u201chero\u2019s journey.\u201d One can argue that The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":152,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2347,2035,789,2406,236],"class_list":["post-29171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp01","tag-adventure","tag-campbell","tag-columbus","tag-friedman","cohort-dlgp01"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/152"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29171"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29172,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29171\/revisions\/29172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}