Hero’s Journey

The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are. ~ Joseph Campbell

I have had this framed print by Maxfield Parrish in my home for many years. It has always inspired me to become the woman I knew I was here to be...a woman on the precipice...a woman embracing all of who she is, embodying her pain, her wisdom, and her open heart, without fear. To me, it has always felt symbolic of true feminine power. It gives me something to aspire to and align with. It is my ongoing commitment to do so to the best of my ability.

Our society restricts, controls, demands, and tells us who to be. It confines us and requires us to keep ourselves small if we are to “fit in” and “be accepted."While this may, in a sense, provide some sense of support and acceptance, ultimately, it robs us of being who we truly are. Ultimately, this kind of conditioning forces us to be people-pleasing, conforming, bland, carbon copies of each other who want nothing more than to “be liked” by others who are also lost and have no true sense of selfhood. This is at best, a boring and unfulfilling life that serves no one. Within these structures, we cannot possibly find anything that resembles true happiness, belonging or fulfillment. We must be willing to upset the status quo, ask important questions, and be willing to step out of our conditioning into something bigger and better that is suited to our soul's individual path. This is no small task, but it is the most important one that we will face.

Will we comply, and be who they want us to be, or will we answer the call of our soul and be who we are truly meant to be?

This is the hero's (or heroine's) journey of which Joseph Campbell speaks...will we answer the call of our soul, or not? If we do, we must be willing to face our fears of being ostracized, abandoned, and exiled. This is a very real fear that we must face, and it is terrifying, and yet, there is nothing more terrifying than being exiled from one's own soul for not answering its' call.