Life is Stories and Stories are Life:
Becoming the Hero You’ve Been Waiting For
This class has been completed, but will be offered again in either late 2023 or early 2024
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
Mary Oliver, “The Summer Day
Joseph Campbell revolutionized literary analysis when he popularized the “Monomyth”— a pattern of steps and character types he discovered in stories around the globe and spanning ancient to contemporary societies. But the Monomyth, more popularly known as the Hero’s Journey, doesn’t just apply to stories; it runs through our real-world lives as well. Based on Jungian psychology, the Hero’s Journey is actually a road map for the steps we need to take, the support we can seek, the characters we may encounter, the challenges we have to face, and the rewards we will earn when we pursue a life that fulfills our life purpose and passions.
But if we aren’t accomplishing all that we think we are meant to do, if we feel stuck or purposeless, or if we are frustrated by our lack of progress towards our goals, it is likely because of the stories we tell ourselves. The right life stories empower and guide us, while others lead us into repetitive patterns that don’t serve us in maximizing the impact, the achievements, and the joy of our “wild and precious life.”
In this class, we will not be setting goals and determining action steps; you’ve probably already done plenty of that. Rather, we will examine our lives through the lens of Campbell’s Hero’s Journey to understand what it means to live a heroic life. We will discover the archetypal character types that we are living or that surround us in our personal world and how that can affect our path. And we will work to uncover the stories that are inspiring and shaping our journeys, consciously or unconsciously.
As Helen Keller famously said, “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” If you are seeking a life of more daring, more adventure, more purpose, more effectiveness, and more bliss, please join us.
CLASS DETAILS
Schedule: Eight classes on Tuesday evenings, April 11-May 30, 7-9 PM ET
Format: Classes will be held live online using Zoom
Fee: $250/$25 deposit (payment plans available)
Texts: While there are no required books for this class, in order to practice analyzing stories, students are expected to watch an assigned movie prior to each week’s class and to complete a Hero’s Journey worksheet that will be discussed in class. Students need a notebook or journal in which to collect and record class assignments and activities.
Some recommended readings for this class include:
Pathways to Bliss: Mythology and Personal Transformation by Joseph Campbell
What Stories Are You Living?: Discover Your Archetypes – Transform Your Life! by Carol S. Pearson (Note: the physical book include a link to a test for your predominant archetypes)
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