Last Monday, we began exploring the Heroine's Journey as
it relates to today's Accidental Pren-her. We'll be using Joseph Campbell's own research into the Hero's Journey as our model, adapting it specifically to a woman's journey as she travels from Accidental Pren-her to entrepreneurial women.
There are three stages to every Heroine's Journey. They are:
- Departure
- Initiation
- Return
Last week we talked about Departure.
Today, we'll focus on: INITIATION
After the heroine has accepted the call and sets off down the road, she must cross the threshold between the world she is familiar with and the unknown world. This is the heroine’s road of trials. The time when she is tested. Where she is honed and strengthened by the journey.
Sounds rather daunting, doesn’t it? Well, there is good news. We don’t travel this part of the journey alone. Many allies and friends will walk with us. Some known, some unknown. Some will protect us. Others will guide us. Still others will be older and wiser to provide sound counsel and sage advice. Those we meet will provide us with the tools and insights for the adventure ahead. This is the part of the journey where we go it together. Where synchronistic events, seemingly chance encounters, and the most unexpectedly helpful guides come to assist us and walk with us along our way.
Remember the scene in the movie version of The Fellowship of the Ring when Gandalf tells Frodo that he is no longer safe in the Shire, that the ring Bilbo has left him is the One Ring, the ring being sought after by the Dark Lord Sauron? This is the moment of Frodo’s call to action. He and his beloved Shire are threatened if he stays. He accepts the call to take the One Ring to Rivendell, and at that moment, Sam appears, to walk by his side, to accompany him, no matter what.
Together they set off on their great adventure. Everything is going along just fine until Sam suddenly stops at the edge of a cornfield. Frodo keeps walking ahead and hasn’t noticed for a few seconds that Sam is no longer with him. When he does, he turns back and sees Sam looking down at the ground in front of him.
“What is it, Sam?” Frodo asks.
“This is it. If I take one more step, it will be the farthest from home I’ve ever been.”
This is what the experience of crossing the threshold between what you know and what you don’t know is like. This is the place between worlds. Between what is familiar and what is not. No matter how excited you may be on our journey, that place where you cross over can stop you in your tracks. You don’t know what lies ahead. You are in new, uncharted territory.
This is the place where many small business owners get hung up. Where they are foiled. Where they become fearful of moving on. What do you call this place? I’ve heard it called ‘sitting on the fence.’ Others say this is the place where the ‘rubber meets the road.’ What’s the experience like? One client of mine described it as the feeling of straddling two planets with one foot on Earth and the other on Mars. Another client said she felt like she was straddling the Grand Canyon with one foot on the north side and the other on the south. Both felt what Sam felt — a coming to the end of what is known and understood.
(Excerpt from Chapter 6 of my book)
Who's walking beside you? What friends, allies, and guides are with you on your journey from Accidental Pren-her to entrepreneurial woman? To go it alone would be unbearable. Companionship makes it bearable, even enjoyable.
I remember reading this chapter and loving it for two reasons. One - I'm on this journey, and two - there is no better portrayal, in my opinion, of the Hero(ine)'s journey than Lord of the Rings. In my office, I have a small figurine of Gandalf up on a shelf, reminding me always to rely on my own internal White Wizard.
Posted by: Dana's Energy Drawings at Nine Tomatoes | February 25, 2008 at 06:03 PM
I'm a fan of the "Lord of the Rings" books and movies. Tolkien does an amazing job of depicting each stage of the Hero(ine)'s Journey, and not just in one person. Though the main focus is on Frodo, you actually get to see almost all the characters in one stage or another of the Hero's Journey and how they develop and grow through the journey. More than just mere character development, each person has to let go of something they've been holding on to in order to reach for something more, within them.
Gandalf is a fabulous example of the internal White Wizard -- Inner Samurai, as I like to call it -- within each one of is.
Thanks for sharing your own inner Wizard with us, Dana.
Posted by: The Original Accidental Pren-her | February 26, 2008 at 12:39 PM