The Hero's Journey has been so popularized, my daughter refers to it as cliche (a gut punch to a once psychology turned English major). So, let’s talk about the journey as it was before it became part of an assignment-- a story. Before psychology and English professors jumped on the bandwagon, the Hero’s Journey was our pocket manual on how to become better humans. It taught us how to use each part of our lives as a pathway toward integrity.
Brene Brown teaches us “You either walk into your story and own your truth, or you live outside of your story, hustling for your worthiness.” Owning your story means inviting all parts of yourself, the good, the bad, and the ugly, to sit down, grasp hands, share coffee, and remember with raw honesty. Owning your story demands courage--the kind of courage it takes to stay inside of it and make friends with the parts you’d rather leave alone to die in the desert. Owning your story means watching yourself in your mind’s eye staring into the blue sparkling ocean, the sky full of stars, or the room full of strangers. It’s smelling the asphalt on your bleeding face, hearing the glass (or the bat or the sky or the bone or the ice or your voice) crack. It’s feeling the tears of shame drip down your flaming cheeks or holding the papery skin of your grandmother’s hand in your sweaty palm. It’s tasting fear like metal or sand or a mouthful of marbles. It’s inhaling the smell of the fire, the hospital, an ex’s neck, or the backyard of your old house 2,000 miles away. Owning your story costs the vulnerability to look deep in the eyes of each of the parts of you, welcome them and love them. It takes the determination to wrestle with your demons of disappointment, failures, and shortcomings until you understand they are your truest teachers, friends, and guardians--faithful companions across the thresholds of your life’s journey.
When we have the courage to walk into our own story and own it, we get to write a brave new ending. And, when we don’t own our stories of failures, setbacks, and hurt, they own us.
~Brene Brown
I invite you to consider this new year as a stretch on a journey toward who you want to become. Along the way, I encourage you to welcome ALL parts of yourself. Offer them tea and a pillow and your full attention. Ask them what they want you to know. Listen to what they say and promise you will keep coming back, because a life of integrity means every part of yourself and your story have a seat at the table and are honored, valued, and cherished.
SHINE On!
Natasha Straayer