Unlock Life Lessons Through The Hero’s Journey – Part 1

Everyone loves a good story. Stories entertain, distract, move, and enlighten us. We love heroes. We don’t care if the hero is wearing a cape, fighting evil, finally falling in love, or working to overturn the system. We love stories and heroes because they carry within them something of ourselves. In a good story we identify with the hero in some way. We think, wow, that’s me. Stories are in our DNA and so are heroes. It’s been this way since the dawn of time.

Interestingly, most stories have a set pattern. There are certain elements that can be found in almost every story. This is called a monomyth or popularly known as The Hero’s Journey.

What I would like to do is share this pattern with you and help you see it in some popular stories. Why? Because I believe that there is something deeper for us to learn about stories, heroes, and these patterns. This “something” may even change the way you view your life and the world. It’s certainly changed mine, but we’ll get to that later. So, let’s dive in and take a look at The Hero’s Journey.

This “journey”, this pattern, has roughly 12 steps. Not every story has all 12 but most of them do. Many repeat the steps in different ways or shuffle them about. Below I’ll lay out the steps and provide some examples from modern literature and movies.

Ordinary World

Most stories start out introducing us to the hero in his or her everyday, ordinary world. This shows us what life is currently like for our hero. He is in control. Life is going along pretty much as he expects. Think of Frodo excitedly preparing for Bilbo’s 111 birthday party in the Shire (Lord of the Rings). Think of Woody hanging out with the other toys in Andy’s bedroom (Toy Story). How about Xeones and his cousin preparing to take his clutch of ptarmigan eggs to market early one morning (Gates of Fire).

Here we are introduced to the main character, often the hero, and the world around him or her. We see the room or mountains, smell the flowers or the smoke, and dive into their world.

Call to Adventure

However, the story would go nowhere if there weren’t some sort of call to adventure. Otherwise, we’d just be reading about someone’s fairly uninteresting life. We expect the story and hero to go somewhere. We expect them to learn something. We expect them to move beyond who they currently are. This catalyst or Call to Adventure sets the story in motion. Neo gets a mysterious phone call (The Matrix). Buddy learns he isn’t actually an elf (Elf). George and Mary’s “date” is suddenly interrupted by news that George’s father isn’t well (It’s a Wonderful Life).

In this step of the journey, the hero’s life has the potential for change. Something happens to their world. The status quo is disrupted.

Refuse/Accept the Call

Our heroes in these stories now have a choice to make. Do they return to the world that is comfortable and known? Or, do they accept the call to adventure? Does Neo take the red or the blue pill (The Matrix)? Does George leave Bedford Falls and allow Potter to take over or does he stay and keep the business running (It’s a Wonderful Life)? Does Frodo accept the burden of the Ring or leave it to someone else to carry (Lord of the Rings)?

This step puts the hero face to face with a tough decision. Does she fight or flee? Explore or go back to sleep? Change the system or go along with the system? The choice is theirs alone but it is never an easy one. Thankfully, the story or author provides some singular help.

Meeting the Mentor

The saying, “no man is an island”, is especially true in many of our beloved stories. Help is at hand. This help may be a person or an animal, a book or an angel. Nearly every hero finds some sort of mentor, even if their work is simply encouragement or pushing the hero out of the nest. The mentor may give one word of advice and that’s it; like Leon to Buddy the Elf (Elf), “This might be the golden opportunity to find out who you really are.” Neo has Morpheus (The Matrix) “I’m trying to free your mind, Neo, but I can only show you the door, you’re the one that has to walk through it“.

Whether they are giving sage advice or stumbling on a truth here or there, these mentors help the hero with her journey. The hero is going to need the help if they intend to make the difficult choice of accepting the call to adventure. We hope they do because their life, and possibly ours, is about to change.

Crossing the Threshold

The heroes in our stories always cross a threshold. They go from the Ordinary World into a world that is nearly the opposite. Their choice to follow the Call to Adventure lifts a veil, changes how they see the world, or plunges them into the unknown. Buddy goes from Santa’s Workshop to New York City (Elf). Frodo travels from the Shire into the unknown, to him, world of Middle Earth (Lord of the Rings). Ryland Grace moves from the life of being a school teacher to an astronaut tasked with saving the solar system (Project Hail Mary).

No matter how much our hero wants to return to his or her former way of life, once the threshold is crossed, there is no turning back. The call has become reality and we are excited to see how they/we fare in this upside down world.

Tests, Allies, and Enemies

In this part of the story, the hero faces daunting tests that try them as a person and reveal their true character (maybe even to themselves). Here they find friends to help them on their journey and enemies set on knocking them off the path. Frodo slips the ring on for the first time, meets Strider and the Elves, as well as the Dark Riders (Lord of the Rings). George sees who his true friends are and that Potter is the enemy in both the Ordinary World and in the upside down world without him (It’s a Wonderful Life).

These tests, allies, and enemies may be exterior or interior. Our hero’s attitudes may be tested or she may be challenged to a physical test. Their allies may be their newfound courage or a individual they once saw as an enemy. Enemies may be character flaws or powerful beings. In this step we see more clearly where lines are drawn, who we may be able to trust, and who is to be avoided. Our hero, with this new information changes – a little, but they aren’t quite there yet. In order for them to grow as an individual and become who they were meant to be, the story very often grows darker. Remember, it’s always darkest before the dawn.

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In my next post, we’ll look at the final 6 steps of the Hero’s Journey. In the 3rd and final post, I’ll share how this knowledge of the Hero’s Journey can transform how you see the world and provide your with tools to change your mindset and your life.

Challenge – Try to find these first 6 steps in the last story you read or try to find them in this beloved story…

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