The Hero's Quest

Joseph Campbell is a renowned figure in the humanistic movement. His contribution on the role of mythology in our lives is nowhere more obvious than in the myth of the Hero's Quest. When an individual commits to this Quest, it is in response to an inner call to find their true Self.
The Quest occurs in 3 majors steps. The first is to leave the normal world to answer the call of the psyche. All are called, but few choose to answer the invitation.
This is often the case for men who have developed a powerful ego to master the outside world. Many resist what seems on the surface to require them to go against their own interest. The risk in maintaining the status quo is that it can lead them to a life of boredom and futility. Or it can throw such individual into an existentialist crisis, if they are unable to handle the daily demands of life and the inner pressure of the Self wanting to emerge.
Because women are generally more introspective, they may take on the journey more readily. Still one of their biggest risks is to stay caught up at the superficial level of societal roles. The roles of mother, caregiver, companion, teacher, lover, rescuer, feminist, and seeker, to name a few, can easily distract and hold them back from the deeper quest for their greater identity.
Individuals who choose to set out on the path will have to face the incomprehension of their family members and friends. If they have a happy family situation, such an engagement can be very threatening to their close ones who will ask why their love and support is not enough. At work, colleagues and bosses may question those who feel the need to leave an assured career for what appears to them only as an undefined and irrational impulse.
The second step of the Quest is the Initiation to the Self that requires clearing the obstacles that obscure its presence within. When individuals enter the threshold of their inner realm, they have to confront their spiritual labyrinth. They are sure to face the numerous dead ends of their limiting beliefs. They will experience the dark shadows of their negative emotions. They will apprehend the immature images of their egoic self and the disconnected parts of their shadow. Facing these patterns, beliefs, and entities will sorely test the Hero's mental balance and determination. Yet one by one, the individual will learn to dissolve, discard, transmute, and transcend all the psychic blocks and illusions that stand in the way, keeping the faith that something will be left at the end of this cleansing process. After many trials and tribulations, the Hero finally finds and recovers within the pearl of great price that is a spiritual identity that transcends by far the small ego.
In the third and last step of the journey, the victorious Hero will have to re-integrate the normal world. This will be another test for the Hero who is eager to share the findings of the journey with others. Their successful endeavour will set them apart or in direct conflict with any who have not entered a similar Quest. They most likely will not be able to assume their old responsibilities and identity and will have to create for themselves a new place in the world. Is it a price worth paying?
Just ask those who have gone on this journey and established a connection with their own divinity. Their eyes, their words, their actions, and their whole being will answer with an unequivocal certainty. Only the resurrected individuals, born a second time to their inner Self, are true Heroes, for they alone have tasted of the Water of Life that pulses within them. Our small voice calls each and every one of us to greater awareness, who among us will listen?