Hero's Journey Programs: Articles: "What Does The Hero's Journey Work Have To Offer"

WHAT DOES THE HERO'S JOURNEY WORK
HAVE TO OFFER?

Michael Mervosh, and the Hero's Journey staff, devote a lot of attention to welcoming the individual essence and longing of each man who comes to do his own journey. The rich diversity of self expression is one the things I like most about the Hero's Journey community. We are aware that every man is responsible for finding ontological ground that is true for his particular self-expression--no one else can do that for him. Furthermore, we recognize this is a very demanding task if one refuses to settle for prescribed solutions.

Much of the work of the Hero's Journey has to do with identifying, experiencing, and moving beyond the fears that keep us from following our own true path. There are so many ways to say this, but I'm reminded now of the old adage: "Better to live one's own life poorly than someone else's life well." We work with accessing the forgiveness and courage that allows us to live our own lives as wholeheartedly as possible. We see this as our best contribution to the world as well.

Another feature of the Hero's Journey work that attracts me is the attention we give to forming a stable and mutually enhancing relationship with the earth as sacred. Many of us men are ill-at-ease inside our own bodies and are not fully present to the ground we stand upon. If we can't find God there, then I think our spiritual lives become an abstraction--an elaborate and entertaining compensation for something missing--something so simple and direct and immediate. If we're exploring the themes of "emptiness and darkness", for example, we enter into the silence of a cave. We look to go to those places on the earth that directly express the values we are seeking be more at home within.

On the Hero's Journey, we don't focus on engaging with any particular archetype (warrior, lover, king, magician, etc) but rather on the journey itself. Through all of our practices, rituals, meditations we look to make the "journey Godward" more visible and real for each of us. So that when we return, the journey is as real for us at home as it is on the mountaintop. In my estimation, we all do this last bit rather poorly. Yet, there's a wonderful confidence I gain from stumbling in my own life and landing on my own ground --as opposed to behaving well but ultimately disappearing into the quicksand of another's life.

I really think that a journey of this sort is inevitable and, perhaps, the only real control we have is to determine at what rate we will proceed. Perhaps the winds of spirit are behind you and you are saying, "Yes. Let's sail!" If that's the case, I'm confident that the Hero's Journey Program and community would serve your own personal journey well.