Finding Bliss, Slaying Dragons, and Inspiring Women - EP 009
Let’s take a journey for the sake of inspiring women and changing the world. Hopefully, you agree that Joseph Campbell is incredibly worthy of being the first man featured on the show.
For years, I searched to find that magical one thing that every other thing comes from when it comes to inspiring leadership. I was raised on superhero cartoons, Charlie’s Angels, and The Bionic Woman. Not only was I inspired by these characters, but I believed I could live life in some real way like a superheroine.
In the movie ‘Finding Joe’ they begin with a quote by Joseph Campbell which says, ‘I don’t believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive.’
Joe was a philosopher, and he was able to see the truth when most people have lost sight of it. I watched the DVD series on The Power of Myth and I’ve also read his books - The Hero’s Journey and The Hero with a Thousand Faces. The books are pretty intense and give incredible detail of the myth and the interpretations of the myths.
Robert Walter is the President of the Joseph Campbell Foundation and he tells us - The Heroine’s Journey is a pattern or an algorithm broken down into three parts – Separation, Initiation, and Return. Like a true engineer, I love a great algorithm.
Robert Walter tells us we have 3 options when the call to journey comes:
- Surrender to victimhood
- Give your victimhood to someone by asking them to just tell you what to do
- Realize you have a choice here and you are responsible for your own adventure
Here are the steps to Slaying the Dragon
- 1st stop fighting it!
- Notice that part of you that is fighting
- Allow yourself to grow a bigger sense of yourself from what you notice
- You may choose to love your dragon! It feels a lot better when you look at it this way! This is optional and highly recommended to accelerate your growth.
- Receive the gift your dragon gives you when you love your darkness.
A Heroine’s Journey has basically three major parts. Separation, Initiation, and Return
Part I – In Separation – we answer a call to be separated from a world of illusions for a world that helps us further understand a meaningful truth, you are ready to resist the status quo.
Part II – In initiation – You are finding your bliss… you enter the forest and walk your own path to find your dragon, exercise the courage to fight your inner demons, slay the dragon, and achieve a personal transformation.
Part III – The Return – You share your story of transformation with others to make the world a better place and you have the privilege of a lifetime of being who you are.
Many thanks to the amazing people who were interviewed in the movie ‘Finding Joe’
Rashida Jones, Catherine Hardwicke, Rebecca Armstrong, Sir Ken Robinson, Deepak Chopra, Robin Sharma, Alan Cohen, Chunglian Al Huang, Gay Hendricks, Brian Johnson, Avika Goldsman, and the producers of ‘Finding Joe’ Patricia Frazier and Patrick Solomon.
We encourage everyone to journey responsibly and to reach out to mental health professions for support. Never hesitate to ask for help and to get the support you need.
Check out our show notes for mental health links and hotlines in the US.
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For more information about Maria Kauffman and The Kauffman Institute click here!