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The Path to Becoming a Hero
 There is a series of five stages a hero goes through in
becoming a hero. Each stage
has a description and includes questions at the end. The questions at the end are to
ponder as you explore the hero's journey. This model is an adaptation of work
that was made popular by Joseph Campbell, who wrote the book, The
Hero with a Thousand Faces.
The
Path to Becoming a Hero
1 -
Dissatisfaction Occurs: A Dragon Appears
2 - Decision
to Go on a Journey to the Unknown: Commitment to Slay the Dragon
3 - The
Journey: Twists, Turns, Wizards, Fights, Tools
4 - The
Unknown Becomes Known: Slaying the Dragon
5 - Changing,
Inspiring and Teaching Others: Keeping the Dragon Out
Step
1 - Dissatisfaction Occurs: A
Dragon Appears
The normal
person becomes aware of or observes something that causes
dissatisfaction. It could be:
External
Event: social injustice, evil acts, or bad behavior
Personal
Crisis: sickness, accident, death, life changes, rejection
Internal
Awareness and Observation: A
condition or state of mind are observed that create dissatisfaction
or a sense of limitation
Questions to start the journey:
What are you
most dissatisfied with - in your life - your work - your family -
your community - your country - the world? What issues do you just
hate? What are the injustices
in the world that speak to your heart?
Step
2: Decision to Go on a
Journey to the Unknown: Commitment to Slay the Dragon
The
dissatisfaction looms large, and the individual makes a
commitment. It is not
clear how change will come, but this is a commitment to take
action. It is a strong motivation
and passion to go into the unknown and try, to take action, to follow
the journey until a different understanding unfolds. An individual has begun the journey
at this point, and he or she is a potential hero, with a unique story
and reason for their commitment to step into the unknown.
Questions
to ask about
being committed to the journey, regarding the catalyzing
dissatisfaction:
What is your
duty to it? What
responsibilities do you have to it?
Where is there no choice?
What obligations do you have?
What is calling to you?
Step
3: The Journey: Twists, Turns, Fights, Tools, Mentors and Evils
The journey is
different for each individual.
It can be an internal journey or an external one, or both. The
potential hero encounters obstacles and is plunged into full
engagement with the unknown.
This is the most difficult step of the journey. What they knew and what was
ordinary and normal is no longer there for them in quite the same
way. It is definitely
"not Kansas anymore!"
They may face their deepest fears before they can move
forward. There may be people
along the way who fight to try and stop them from making
progress. And they may find
people who will help them, too.
The wicked witch tried to stop Dorothy in her journey, and so
did the wizard of Oz himself.
But she persevered and eventually completed her journey - the
same person, but wiser and with a wealth of new understanding and
experience. Dorothy also met helpful people or situations on her path
of commitment. And she was
given ruby slippers that helped her to complete her journey. Heroes may discover or be given
magic tools of all sorts to help them along the way. A contemporary example could be
Obama's widespread use of text messaging to rally millions of his
supporters for change.
Questions
to ask while
on the hero's journey:
What actions
do you need to take to get clarity?
What skills do you have that will help? What skills are you lacking that
may stop you? Who should you
talk to? What research and
reading needs to be done? What tools do you need to learn? Places to visit? What lessons need
to be internalized? What
beliefs need to shift to make the change viable? What behaviors need to change to
slay the dissatisfaction dragon?
Step
4: The Unknown Becomes Known:
Slaying the Dragon
The hero has
discovered the treasure, the magic, the key, the tools, and a sword
that will kill the dragon.
There is a special power or skill or talent or knowledge or
change that can defeat the dissatisfaction.
Through hard
work, perseverance, patience and more, the hero has found a way to
unravel the original dissatisfaction. They have learned many lessons,
encountered others on the path and found a way to fix, change, or
solve a problem. They have
come through the darkness and found a light at the end of the tunnel.
Questions
for learning
the lessons:
What is the
specific set of skill, belief, change, or tools that are needed to
make the change permanent? What lessons have been learned? What is still to be discovered?
Step
5: Keeping Dragons Out: Inspiring and Teaching Others
The ordinary
person has become a hero. Now
the focus is to return from the journey and integrate the lessons,
both within oneself and out into the world. The hero become
Questions for sharing the lessons with others:
What worked
for the hero to overcome the dissatisfaction may not work for
everyone. What additional tools or methods may be needed? Who is already aware of the
dissatisfaction and can help the hero to make the needed
changes? Who will fight out of
resistance to the changes?
What will be lost and what will be gained when the changes
happen?
Some
Examples of Heroes' Stories:
Roberto
Clemente - He played
professional baseball for 18 seasons, won the MVP award and played on
the All Star team for 12 games, among many other career
successes. He grew up in
Puerto Rico, the youngest of seven children. He overcame many obstacles to
become a professional ballplayer, including racial tensions, a
language barrier, and limited finances. Most of his off-season work was
dedicated to charities in Puerto Rico and other Latin American
countries. He provided food and baseball equipment to thousands of
others. He was so dedicated
that after his death in 1972, the baseball commission created the
Roberto Clemente Award that is given out each year to the player who
best follows Roberto's example of humanitarian works.
Littleton
Electric - A bad ice storm hit New England
recently, with almost one million people losing power. The situation was life-threatening
for some. The temperatures remained below freezing. Within days, the power was almost
100% restored to Littleton.
The crews were out in poor weather conditions, working around
the clock, and some suffering harm while on the job. They are amazing, dedicated, having
gone above and beyond the job. Then, when they were done, they went
to the aid of other towns that had been without power for about six
days.
Santa Claus - One tale states that
this beloved figure had a very happy childhood as a mortal child
raised among immortals. He was
then exposed to the misery and poverty of children in the outside
world. This dissatisfaction
leads to his mission of bringing joy and happiness to the lives of
all children using toys as the means
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