The Crucible Towards Comprehension

The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences.--Winston Churchill 

I remember back to my first experience of really getting hit and the sting that came with it. 

I was entering into playing football for the first time in my life and I was late to the game in high school with 9th grade being the first time I ever laced up and put on a helmet. 

I remember the day was hot and the coaches were covering fundamentals of tackling and blocking with each of us. 

We entered into the day working on some tackling drills and the first person I had to face off with was my best friend Bryan, who by the way was no tomato soup can if you know what I mean. 

I remember we first locked up and Bryan got the better of me on that day, but in that moment the sting of that hit and the experience of it ignited something inside of me. 

You see I remember the immediate physical to mental experience that translated into that moment where I asked myself did I want to quit, or did I want to get back up and fire back. 

Of course, I chose the latter and from that day forward I worked on getting better and better and would later exchange some good shots back and forth with several of my friends..including Bryan and another good friend Jeremy. So Bryan and Jeremy if you are listening thank you both. 

The point I’m trying to make here is that there are many moments that each of us will face in life where the situation we find ourselves in proves to be a test for us. When you find yourself in such a situation, particularly when you may be faced with some fear and doubt, how are you going to respond to that situation? 

Do you look at the situation in terms of being concerned and fearful, or do you look at it as if it’s a sort of calling and an adventure that you need to step forward with to face head on? 

Obviously that choice falls onto each of us individually as we each face that particular circumstance that is unique to our situation, however perhaps today’s episode can give you the nudge you need to step forward into your adventure to face your test head on.  

Because here and now in today’s world we are ALL facing something both individually and collectively as a society as a whole, and we will all be forced into the circumstance of having to make a difficult decision as I pointed out above. So if you haven’t already felt the sting of being hit (literally or metaphorically) I promise you that day is coming. 

The Hero's Journey 

Every hero undergoes a challenging journey that can be carried out both within the individual’s mind, as well as in the physical world. 

Mental and physical challenges in life are something that none of us are immune to when looking at and examining our lives. Each and every one of us has a crucible, or sort of a journey of reckoning if you will, that we must experience and then face a decision on how we’re going to deal with that journey.

American author Joseph Campbell had an explanation of this in his work that is titled The Hero With a Thousand Faces in which he explains the theory of the journey of the archetypal hero. According to Campbell’s theory of the case this sort of journey consists of a series of stages which in his description is shared among mythologies across the world. 

The Hollywood screenwriter Christopher Vogler studied Campbell’s work and created his own work The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers which parallels Campbell’s Work breaking down the journey of the hero as it plays out in twelve different stages. 

This is an intriguing list as it not only applies to the writing of a hero’s journey, but is a series of steps that plays out in my view within many of us in day to day life. 

The list reads as follows…