I step out of my thoughts and into those of Joseph Campbell—I, a curious explorer from the edge of his work. Seeking help from the words of Stuart L. Brown, filmmaker of The Hero’s Journey, I rely on his tribute to Campbell as the foundation of my reading:
My copy of The Hero’s Journey has folded corners and check marks where I’ve uncovered sentences, even paragraphs, of scraps of understanding about mythology and how it relates to my life.
Eighteen years ago, a member at my spiritual center told me that it was a journey that I wanted to be on and not a path. A path, he said, meant someone else had been there, whereas a journey was for me alone. I found him wise. Ultimately, I learned that he had been reading Campbell, whose exact words on the subject are: “Where there is a way or path, it is someone else’s path; each human being is a unique phenomenon.”*
At the time, my friend’s words had their effect, and I began thinking of my life as my journey. It didn’t mean that I now fully focused on what was right for me; I still looked around to see what others were doing. But years later, an inner message made clear that as “a unique phenomenon,” I was indeed on my own journey. I was to do no more counseling and no more fee-charging—initially shocking, as I questioned how I would support myself. Yet I also knew that I would comply.
The answer, as an insight, came promptly. The Social Security widow’s benefit from my second husband would begin four months later, and I had sufficient savings, though barely, until then.
My realization is, “When reading authors of great interest, but whose knowledge far exceeds one’s own, scrutinizing a small section of writing may bring an ‘aha’ of understanding.”
* Joseph Campbell, The Hero’s Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Word, (Novato, CA: New
World Library), viii.
* Campbell, The Hero’s Journey, viii.
The more I read [Campbell’s books], the more I was moved
by an incessant
urge to see that Campbell’s sweeping scholarship and capacity for tolerantly blend-
ing the world’s mythologies were made available to audiences outside the scholarly
community.*
urge to see that Campbell’s sweeping scholarship and capacity for tolerantly blend-
ing the world’s mythologies were made available to audiences outside the scholarly
community.*
Eighteen years ago, a member at my spiritual center told me that it was a journey that I wanted to be on and not a path. A path, he said, meant someone else had been there, whereas a journey was for me alone. I found him wise. Ultimately, I learned that he had been reading Campbell, whose exact words on the subject are: “Where there is a way or path, it is someone else’s path; each human being is a unique phenomenon.”*
At the time, my friend’s words had their effect, and I began thinking of my life as my journey. It didn’t mean that I now fully focused on what was right for me; I still looked around to see what others were doing. But years later, an inner message made clear that as “a unique phenomenon,” I was indeed on my own journey. I was to do no more counseling and no more fee-charging—initially shocking, as I questioned how I would support myself. Yet I also knew that I would comply.
The answer, as an insight, came promptly. The Social Security widow’s benefit from my second husband would begin four months later, and I had sufficient savings, though barely, until then.
My realization is, “When reading authors of great interest, but whose knowledge far exceeds one’s own, scrutinizing a small section of writing may bring an ‘aha’ of understanding.”
* Joseph Campbell, The Hero’s Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Word, (Novato, CA: New
World Library), viii.
* Campbell, The Hero’s Journey, viii.