Heroics is a daily act. Done in partnership
The great blockbuster movies of our time, such as Star Wars, might seem to follow the archetypal pattern of the hero’s journey.
This mono-myth has been conscripted by our age as the great story, the pattern under the pattern.
While I love Joseph Campbell’s work, the context in which he wrote it was through the lens of the hero in a society built on the individual as exceptional, in a nation believing in the exceptional. We celebrate the lone hero who rises above all odds to save the day. We might aspire to be that person.
This story perpetuates one of the most crippling delusions of our time. The myth of the rugged individual. The atomised human. The lone survivor.
Perhaps there are two greater stories lost in the subtext. These stories are rattling the cages of our psyche to be heard.
The story of the first agreement to dance with the dark side. That moment we all face, multiple times in our lives, to choose the dark side. To choose the lie. The deception. The profit over humans. Every day we, you and I, get to choose our path. That is our hero’s journey. Do we go along with integrity, or do we submit to the way now acceptable to business-as-usual.
And the second story is that no one ever makes it alone. There is no such thing as a solo hero. A thousand, a million hands hold us up. Those beside us, those far away, those departed. The non-sentient.
Heroics is a daily act. Done in partnership. Our greatest partner is our home Planet. She, in her infinite wisdom, has been whispering to us from the beginning. Go with life, living, beauty, love, connection, relationship with…in deep respect for. We are her. She is us.
The way has always been there. But first, we might fall to our knees and be with the dirt. Humbled by greatness beyond comprehension. Our Universe.
Photo taken August 24th 2020
