The Cave
"The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek."
Think.
If you recall, the Hero’s Journey truly began when our protagonist answered the call to adventure and crossed the threshold between the ordinary and the extraordinary worlds. And, although we call this the hero’s or heroine’s journey, our main character is not a hero or heroine at this point. They are simply a person with potential—a regular Joe or Josephine who is striving to achieve greatness.
If you’re joining us late you may want to catch up here:
October 5th -It’s your story, be the hero.
October 12th -The Mentor
October 19th - The Nemesis
After a period of preparation, our hero-in-training hopefully possesses the skills necessary to successfully cross the next threshold into what Campbell calls the innermost cave.
This is what everything has been leading to. Every choice, every decision, all of the training and preparation.
The mentor has confidence in them, but they undoubtedly still question their selves and their own capabilities. The cave holds their greatest fear and the only way to find out if they are up to the challenge is to step inside.
There is a death the moment they enter the cave.
A death of ego, a death of self, and the hero or heroine is finally born. Transformed by apotheosis. They win the battle by facing their fear and they step out of the cave with the treasure or knowledge they sought all along.
I hope by now you have recognized yourself in this story.
Sunday’s monthly wrap-up post will go into greater depth on the roles of the hero, mentor, and monster.
Read. Untethered Mind
Harness your inner rebel.
Write.
In my coaching business, I deal primarily with people who are stuck sitting at the mouth of the cave. From the outside, they identify the nemesis within as an upcoming transition of some sort, or an enemy, or some other monster that’s preventing them from achieving the thing they say they really want. But almost always, the monster is fear. You have to fight past the fear to achieve the things you want. In other words, everything worth having lives on the far side of fear.
This week, journal about a cave you are afraid to enter. Instead of focusing on the challenges inside it, write about the rewards that will come when you make it through to the other side. I’d love to hear what you come up with.
Repeat.
What I think is that a good life is one hero journey after another. Over and over again, you are called to the realm of adventure, you are called to new horizons. Each time, there is the same problem: do I dare? And then if you do dare, the dangers are there, and the help also, and the fulfillment or the fiasco. There's always the possibility of fiasco. But there's also the possibility of bliss.
-Joseph Campbell
Thanks for reading Think. Read. Write. Repeat. See you next Thursday.
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