{"id":35441,"date":"2024-02-01T17:04:25","date_gmt":"2024-02-02T01:04:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=35441"},"modified":"2024-02-01T17:04:25","modified_gmt":"2024-02-02T01:04:25","slug":"navigating-the-heroines-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/navigating-the-heroines-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"Navigating the Heroines Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I delved into this week\u2019s readings, I couldn’t help but think about the patterns I\u2019d seen among leaders that brought me to this doctoral program. No matter what initial goal or challenge they wanted to work on, at its core was a need to be seen, heard, and accepted. Despite the diversity of individuals I\u2019d encounter, our conversation around their challenges would inevitably circle back to a common theme: an internal struggle with identity. It didn’t matter if they were in their first professional roles or CEOs of companies, each wrestled to grasp a deeper sense of who they are and why they exist. Both questions are vital to what Joseph Campbell claims is a universal quest for fulfillment and wholeness that he illustrates in his book, \u201cThe Hero with a Thousand Faces.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Campbell argues that mythology not only reflects the world around us but also shapes our understanding of reality and helps us discern our place within it. He suggests myths are maps and offers a framework called The Hero\u2019s Journey, which rests upon three main parts: separation \u2014 initiation \u2014 \u00a0return. [1]<\/span><\/p>\n

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Diagram of the Hero’s Journey<\/p><\/div>\n

The Hero\u2019s Journey has influenced a variety of leadership programs I\u2019ve participated in as well as which I\u2019ve led. What\u2019s powerful about the framework is that it allows each one of us to be the hero in our own story and provides an overview of what to expect along the way, which can be reassuring when trials come.<\/span><\/p>\n

I appreciate how this book points to the larger journey of what it means to be human and spirit, highlighting how we must learn to hold the two at the same time, without attachment or strife but simply navigating from a place of abundance in light. Whereby one no longer believes the lies of separation but recognizes our true nature as love. \u201cThe ultimate experience of love is a realization that beneath the illusion of two-ness dwell identity: ‘each is both.’ [2] The core message of the Hero\u2019s Journey is that of a discovery of Oneness.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet critiques of the Hero\u2019s Journey, like TD Storm\u2019s observation in \u201cWhy the Hero\u2019s Journey May Not Be Right for Your Story,\u201d challenge its universal applicability.[3] Maureen Murdock provides a feminist lens through the Heroine’s Journey where the main conflict is internal, between the competing masculine and feminine nature within oneself. [4]<\/span><\/p>\n

In my journey of guiding leaders through their own inner explorations I\u2019ve always been vocal about how spiritual this work is. However, over time I began to realize that without a specific rooting in one’s faith, through a personal relationship with God, people could only go so far. When I think about the leadership challenge of inadequacy and misplaced identity, I\u2019ve often wondered if one can ever truly grasp who they are without first understanding <\/span>whose<\/span><\/i> they are.<\/span><\/p>\n

Campbell states \u201cThe hero is the man of self-achieved submission. But submission to what? That precisely is the riddle that today we have to ask ourselves and that it is everywhere the primary virtue and historic deed of the hero to have solved.\u201d [5] For me, it’s only by returning back to what I know about God and who the Word says I am that I have been able to find peace from the voices that attack my sense of my worth and value. <\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span>But how do you help people explore this question of \u2018submission to what?\u2019 and become comfortable in the act of obedience required in submission while living in a world where these words have been used for centuries to strip people of their dignity, silence their voice, and oppress them?<\/span><\/p>\n

Attempts often feel surface level unless we really drop into an understanding of the radical nature of Jesus, the fullness of the Kingdom of God, and the authority we\u2019ve been given as co-creators and inheritors of that Kingdom. This means a deep dive into the supernatural to bring heaven on Earth through miracles, signs, and wonders, doing all that Jesus did and more, as indicated in John 14:12 [6]<\/span><\/p>\n

But where do we find support for this type of journey? Leadership programs offer one route but they can only take us so far. Churches or spiritual formation programs offer another but they too are often ill-equipped to move us to the realms that God has for us, and sadly some even set us back on our journeys by planting a seed in our minds of a God who doesn’t love, welcome and meet us where we are.<\/span><\/p>\n

While struggles of wholeness, purpose, worth, and belonging are universal, I feel particularly called to a deeper exploration of how they impact women of color since we know that these issues only become further pronounced and more complex when marginalization is present. Thus my doctoral work centers on Reclaiming Identity and Power: Navigating the Intersection of Faith, Social Justice, and Self-Care Among Women of Color in a White-Supremacist, Capitalist Patriarchy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Still curious as to whether any story arcs take into account the unique experiences of women of color, I stumbled upon Victoria Schmidt\u2019s revamp of the Heroine’s Journey, where she expands the journey Murdock first introduced, adding more layers of depth through nine key stages. [7]<\/span><\/p>\n

I was surprised by how closely this journey outlined what I\u2019d intuitively known and witnessed. It was also a powerful visual of what stage the women were at before our worlds collided and of the role of community. Here, each woman must do more work on their own before being met with the support of a collective of sisters who serve as mirrors, reflecting back her true nature. What I also appreciate about this story arc is that the \u201creward\u201d during the return stage is spiritual, and internal and creates a ripple effect. \u201cThey know themselves better and are committed to mutual interactions with their world.\u201d[8]<\/span><\/p>\n

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Victoria Schmidt Heroine’s Journey<\/p><\/div>\n

Indeed this offers a lot of food for thought as I move forward in my research. However, it still doesn’t integrate the supernatural power of God through partnership with the Holy Spirit, in the way that is needed. As the semester continues, the question I will focus on addressing is what role community and collective healing play in the reclaiming of identity and power for Women of Color, and how can this be integrated into a faith-based framework that aligns with their unique experiences?<\/span><\/p>\n


\n[1]Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces<\/em> (Novato, CA: New World Library, 2008), 23.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

[2] Ibid<\/span><\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n

\n

[3] Storm, T. D. \u201cWhy the Hero\u2019s Journey May Not Be Right for Your Story.\u201d Storm Writing School, October 20, 2017. https:\/\/www.stormwritingschool.com\/why-the-heros-journey-may-not-be-right-for-your-story\/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest&utm_campaign=tailwind_smartloop&utm_content=smartloop&utm_term=4660938.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

[4] Brunken, Jason. \u201cMr. Brunken\u2019s Online Classroom – the Heroine\u2019s Journey.\u201d mrbrunken.happykids.taipei, December 9, 2016. https:\/\/mrbrunken.happykids.taipei\/middleschool\/news\/theheroinesjourney.<\/p>\n

[5] Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces<\/em> (Novato, CA: New World Library, 2008), 23.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

[6]The Holy Bible.<\/i> London: Hodder And Stoughton, 1992.<\/p>\n

[7]\u201cVictoria Lynn Schmidt\u2019s Heroine\u2019s Journey Arc.\u201d The Heroine Journeys Project. The Heroine Journeys Project, March 19, 2015. https:\/\/heroinejourneys.com\/heroine-journey-ii\/.<\/p>\n

[8]Ibid<\/span><\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I delved into this week\u2019s readings, I couldn’t help but think about the patterns I\u2019d seen among leaders that brought me to this doctoral program. No matter what initial goal or challenge they wanted to work on, at its core was a need to be seen, heard, and accepted. Despite the diversity of individuals […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":209,"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":[3023],"class_list":["post-35441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp03-campbell","cohort-lgp3"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35441","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\/209"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35441"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35441\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35445,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35441\/revisions\/35445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}