The Hero’s Journey
Why Challenges Are Invitations
It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure. The very cave you are afraid to enter turns out to be the source of what you are looking for. The damned thing in the cave that was so dreaded has become the center.
Joseph Campbell: The Hero with a Thousand Faces
In 1949 renowned mythologist Joseph Campbell published his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. In this groundbreaking work he introduced what he calls the Hero's Journey or the monomyth. He argued that the same fundamental story - the story of the mythological hero's journey - forms the heart of the great tales in all cultures through all ages: fairy tales, myths, scriptures, and movies.
The Hero's Journey is a microcosmic version of the journey we all have to go through in our lives, and therefore the great stories can teach us crucial things about ourselves, our world and our journey through life.