The world is round, and the place which may seem like the end may also be the beginning.
~ Ivy Baker Priest
A Meditation
Years ago, I founded a Creative Writing Program at the Allegheny County Jail that is now called Words Without Walls. In one class, a student said that addiction and crime had taken them to an end from which they saw no new beginning. I mentioned Joseph Campbell, the myth interpreter who believed the monsters we face [a/k/a obstacles and barriers, the difficulties, betrayals and defeats] are the vampires, hydra and furies we’ve been prepared for and that people with huge potential don’t get tiny, irksome problems. They must fight fire-breathing dragons.
The Circle that is the Hero’s Journey seems designed to both reveal hidden strengths while forcing growth that could happen no other way, and be continuous. Over and again, failures allow fresh starts. Opportunities dress like challenges. Dead ends reveal paths to new beginnings on the hero’s journey that is life.
Please view and enjoy this “Every Story” video.
NOTE: Featured Image is “Riding The Enterprise,” (c) 2020 by Sandra Gould Ford.
“Enterprise” is an amusement park ride named for the Star Trek starship.
