{"id":29231,"date":"2022-10-23T14:56:33","date_gmt":"2022-10-23T21:56:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=29231"},"modified":"2022-10-23T15:08:32","modified_gmt":"2022-10-23T22:08:32","slug":"real-life-heros-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/real-life-heros-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"A Real Life Hero’s Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is there a formula for the human experience? Author and professor, Joseph Campbell believed that there was and he described it in his 1949 book The<\/em><\/span>\u00a0Hero with a Thousand Faces<\/span><\/i>. In this work, Campbell combined his extensive knowledge of world-wide mythology with modern (at the time) psychology to theorize and describe a monomyth that all humans are invited to journey throughout their life. He hypothesized that we are all \u201cheroes\u201d being called (or pushed) into an adventure that will both challenge and transform us if we should choose to accept it and persevere through it. Campbell breaks down this journey into 3 parts: 1) Departure 2) Initiation and 3) Return. After the hero returns and is transformed by their journey, they then have the keys to guide others through similar journeys. 1<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Since Campbell\u2019s book was published, it has been an inspiration and even a formula for creative, informational, and transformational works all over the world.\u00a0 In fact, I was first introduced to Campbell\u2019s monomyth theory through the work of Donald Miller in his book <\/span>Building a Story Brand <\/span><\/i>and subsequent book <\/span>Hero on a Mission<\/span><\/i>. In these books, Miller makes Joseph Campbell\u2019s monomyth practical for storytellers and professional communicators. Miller describes the essential elements of story using Campbell\u2019s monomyth as a guide and proposes that all good communication must include the elements of the monomyth for it to be effective and evoke change. 2<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Per Campbell and Miller, there are four primary characters in stories: 1) the victim 2) the villain 3) the hero 4) and the guide. 3 At certain times in life, each of us play one of these roles. 3<\/a> However, Campbell and Miller assert that it is only the hero who actually transforms and overcomes the obstacle or challenge at the heart of the story. So the question then becomes, which type of character do you want to be in your own story?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As the Creative Director at Messiah St. Charles<\/a>, I use Miller\u2019s Story Brand framework (and therefore Campbell\u2019s monomyth structure) each and every day. Every email my team writes, each sermon series we develop, and every video project we undertake, is created through the lens of story, with the recipient being positioned as the hero and (usually) the church or Jesus being the guide. This structure of communication, based on Campbell\u2019s monomyth, has been a game-changer for inviting people into God\u2019s story of redemption and transformation through Jesus.<\/span><\/p>\n

Campbell\u2019s monomyth has implications for leaders as well as individuals. As leaders, we have the power to position ourselves as any of the four story characters, but our role is best served in being the guide and allowing those we lead to be the heroes. A well differentiated leader (per Friedman) 4<\/a> has been the hero in her own story and now seeks to offer the wisdom and guidance she has gained to those she leads, so that they can transform into the best versions of themselves. A good leader knows she cannot do that transformation work FOR those she leads. They must accept the journey themselves or they will never make it to their own freedom.<\/span><\/p>\n

Authors note:<\/strong> In 2018, I wrote a manifesto describing my own heroine journey<\/a>. I utilized several themes from The\u00a0Hero with a Thousand Faces<\/em> including Campbell\u2019s motto of chasing your bliss, the dark night of the soul, and the hero\u2019s return. You can read my personal manifesto here.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

1<\/a>\u00a0 Joseph Campbell, The Hero With A Thousand Faces, <\/em>3rd ed. (Novato: New World Library, 2008)<\/p>\n

2<\/a> Donald Miller,\u00a0Building a StoryBrand (HarperCollins Leadership, 2017).<\/em><\/p>\n

3<\/a> Donald Miller,\u00a0Hero on a Mission (HarperCollins Leadership<\/em>, 2022)<\/p>\n

4<\/a> Edwin H. Friedman,\u00a0A Failure of Nerve Leadership in the Age of Quick Fix<\/em> (New York: Church Publishing, 2017)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is there a formula for the human experience? Author and professor, Joseph Campbell believed that there was and he described it in his 1949 book The\u00a0Hero with a Thousand Faces. In this work, Campbell combined his extensive knowledge of world-wide mythology with modern (at the time) psychology to theorize and describe a monomyth that all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":154,"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":[789,2119],"class_list":["post-29231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-campbell","tag-heros-journey","cohort-dlgp01"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29231","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\/154"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29231"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29242,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29231\/revisions\/29242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}