🌀🐇 #36 The Hero's Journey Edition

Plus better work habits and the value of laughter  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ​ ​ ​ ⚡️ Enlightening Bolts This is the Hero's Journey edition. Here is some of what's inside: 🏔 Hero's Journey - Step By Step: This engaging video elucidates Joseph Campbell's famous model by drawing from iconic cinematic imagery. 👺Emerging Into Adulthood: Joseph Campbell describes the value of initiation and the process of breaking free from psychological bondage. 📚Joseph Campbell's Insight: 42 Quotes to Help You Conquer Your Hero’s Journey. 🦸‍♂️Free From The Matrix: How I Hacked “The Hero’s Journey” and Transcended Ordinary Life Did someone forward you this email? Get this newsletter every week when you [sign up here.](​ 🎇 Image of The Week ​ 🐺Fitting to the spirit of the Hero's Journey, the image above depicts Leonhard Seppala and his heroic sled dog, Togo. In 1925, the isolated Alaskan town, Nome, was experiencing an outbreak of deadly diphtheria. Here's how they got them the cure: "A relay of 20 teams was assembled, including that of Leonhard Seppala, Alaska’s most venerated musher. Amazingly, in just five and a half days, the “Great Race of Mercy” was completed and the lifesaving serum was delivered to Nome. While the lead dog of the 53-mile final leg, Balto, would become famous for his role in the run, many argue that it was Seppala and his Siberian Husky lead dog, Togo, who were the true saviors of the day. All told, the 12-year-old Togo and Seppala traversed an astounding 264 miles, compared to an average of 31 miles each for the other teams." [Read more about this story here.](​ Answering The Call 💪 The Hero's Journey is an invaluable model to understand. It can be used to create riveting pieces of cinema but more than that it can chart a path to higher levels of human development. 🍿If you've never encountered the idea of the monomyth, this beautifully edited video by Marco Aslan will take you through its components [step-by-step](=). He interweaves scenes from iconic films that epitomize the process of heroic emergence. 👁 The Hero's Journey goes far beyond leisurely entertainment. We can apply its wisdom to our lives in the pursuit of realizing our potential and becoming fully grown humans. ⛓ Filmed not long before his death in 1987, Joseph Campbell, the chief investigator of the monomyth, shared his thoughts on what it means to [become an adult.](=) He described the process of initiation that enabled people to break free from psychological dependence and into "self-responsible authority." 👺This is accomplished in some indigenous cultures through the use of terror-inducing rites of passage where the initiate ultimately wins a battle against masked villains. This marks their transformation from dependent beneficiary to faithful steward: "The mask represents the power that is shaping the society, and has shaped you, and now you are a representative of that power." 🌋Western Culture has fewer built-in rites of passage but we can seek out our own initiations by exploring beyond our comfort zone and "answering the call to adventure" that can stir us out of daily stagnancy and pervasive boredom into an uncertain yet enthralling chapter of our lives. Leaving a relationship, moving to a new city, finding a new job, or starting a business can all serve as triggers that catalyze this process. 🌲Here you leave the "ordinary world" behind to find your authentic self and give the world your gifts. If there is a yearning or dissatisfaction in you for the way things are, listen. Find your way into the dark forest and live through the unfolding of your own unique story: “You enter the forest at the darkest point, where there is no path. Where there is a way or path, it is someone else’s path. You are not on your own path. If you follow someone else’s way, you are not going to realize your potential.” 🪂And no matter how overwhelming it may feel to "cross the threshold" and leap into the uncertainty of your higher development, heed these words: "A bit of advice, given to a young Native American at the time of his initiation: as you go the way of life, you will see a great chasm. Jump. It is not as wide as you think.” 🐲 The Hero Path Joseph Campbell shares a poetic koan on what awaits for us along the Hero Path: “We have not even to risk the adventure alone for the heroes of all time have gone before us. The labyrinth is thoroughly known … we have only to follow the thread of the hero path. And where we had thought to find an abomination we shall find a God. And where we had thought to slay another we shall slay ourselves. Where we had thought to travel outwards we shall come to the center of our own existence. And where we had thought to be alone we shall be with all the world.” ​[Find 41 more quotes from Joseph Campbell here.](=)​ 🤓 Learn This Word Psychopomp: In Jungian psychology, the psychopomp is a mediator between the unconscious and conscious realms. It is symbolically personified in dreams as a wise man or woman, or sometimes as a helpful animal. What this figure represents is not unlike "meeting the mentor" in the hero's journey where the hero receives guidance and wisdom that become invaluable on the road ahead. ⏳ From The Archives A hand-picked classic HighExistence article ​[How I Hacked “The Hero’s Journey” and Transcended Ordinary Life](​ The hero’s journey is a meta-story. Throughout our evolution we have told stories about humans we find admirable, and by looking at the commonalities among these stories we extracted a template—the “hero’s journey”—that great stories tend to adhere to. Stories are very useful tools—they can teach us things about what to seek and what to avoid and if they’re told well they can speak to us much more deeply than mere factual truth. Since I was fourteen years old, my favorite film has been The Matrix. I used to watch it on repeat, read the script, play the video games, and watched every documentary on it I could find. Something in that film spoke to me in extremely deep ways. I later learned that Neo’s character arc in The Matrix is one of the best examples of the hero’s journey in cinematic history. I will break down each part and relate it back to my own journey, but first here’s an overview: ​[Continue Reading](​ 🎬 Endnote We hope you enjoyed this issue of Down The Rabbit Hole. Feel free to reply and tell us what you think. Want to help us spread the word? We love sharing these gems of wisdom and wonder with you each week. If you love receiving them and want to help us spread the word, here is one quick way you can do that: Forward this email to one friend. That's it. It will take 5 seconds and will help us spread the good vibes and reach more people. We appreciate you. Thanks for reading! With Wonder, Mike Slavin & The HighExistence Team P.S. Did a friend forward you this email? Read previous issues and sign-up to receive future issues here: [(​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​[Unsubscribe]( | [Update your profile]( | 40 E. Main St. #1137, Newark, DE 19711 [Built with ConvertKit](