A Hero’s Journey or Path to Mediocrity?

The Importance of the Journey

THE HERO’S JOURNEY

Joseph Campbell’s book, “Hero with a Thousand Faces,” sets up a system that many stories follow. The protagonist:
1. gets a call to adventure,
2. has a mentor appear to help him,
3. leaves the known for the unknown,
4. suffers through tests/trials/traps/temptations,
5. suffers through a crisis,
6. is reborn,
7. gets the treasure (or result they are looking for),
8. and return to the known world to their old life but in an upgraded form, where they are ready for the next adventure.
(TEDed has a great video titled, “What makes a Hero?” by Matthew Winkler)

Campbell’s point is that many of our myths and stories follow this same plot. Since I’m a Harry Potter fan, let’s use the first book in the series, The Sorcerer’s Stone, by J. K. Rowling, as an example.
1. The call – “You’re a wizard, Harry!”
2. Mentor – Dumbledore
3. Unknown world – Magical world
4. Tests/trials/traps/temptations – Snape, 3-headed dog, Mirror, etc.
5. Crisis – Harry has to get the stone before Voldemort does!
6. Reborn – he almost dies
7. Results – Voldemort is thwarted
8. Return – Harry has to go back to the Muggle world but knows so much more and is ready for his next adventure.

Our lives can follow similar cycles, and that is why writers often use this system. But many times, we get waylaid in our quest. We get to the tests and decide it is too hard, so we give up. We aren’t willing to do the hard things to get our treasure, so we take a different path – the path of mediocrity.

THE PATH TO MEDIOCRITY

The people that end up on this path aren’t in the history books. When confronted with a hard decision, they make the easy choice of giving up. I make this choice often, unfortunately! I’ve stopped eating what is right for me because it was so tempting to eat the chocolate instead. I haven’t stood up for what I know is right, choosing instead to play it safe and not cause friction. But I’ve also gotten the call and gone after my treasure. The key is to recognize this pattern.

“Being realistic is the most common path to mediocrity.” Will Smith

When I was a kid, I loved sewing. I made many of my clothes as well as my siblings’. When I had to think of a major in college I really wanted to continue with it but everyone told me there was no money in it so I majored in business. I thought I’d like to have a fabric store one day. The first university I went to was Humboldt State in Northern California. It was in the middle of the forest and was the epitome of the path of mediocrity for me being a business major. Thankfully I didn’t entirely go off track; I minored in Clothing and Textiles.

I took my business classes and didn’t really like most of them. Accounting was the worst. I had to take at least two courses in my minor for each accounting class to keep my sanity. By the time I left Humboldt, I was getting letters from the Business department telling me to start taking more classes, or I wouldn’t be able to stay. At that point, I was already on my way out.

I got back on my journey by transferring to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and switching my major to Clothing and Textiles and my minor to Marketing (Business). I went on and got a master’s in the subject. So much for being realistic!

A few years ago, one of my relatives inferred that this graduate degree was worthless. I can see why she thought that. I didn’t end up in the clothing and textile industry (or at least not for very long), but as I shared with her, I use this degree daily. It showed me how to stay on the journey and why it is essential. The treasure I got from it was the knowledge that I can do hard things. It transformed my world, and I was ready for my next adventure. Through this experience, I was able to feel what it was like to be the protagonist in my own story, and I wanted more.