You Are the Hero: Escaping the Trap of the Ordinary World

You Are the Hero: Escaping the Trap of the Ordinary World

In 1949, Joseph Campbell, a renowned author, lecturer, and mythologist, published a work titled The Hero with a Thousand Faces, which introduced the “monomyth” theory. This theory, which is heavily influenced by the work of Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, suggests that myths from different cultures and regions share a fundamental structure that he coined ‘the hero’s journey.’ This mythic structure has since been baked into thousands of modern novels, movies, and even in the marketing campaigns of your favorite brands. It has become so deeply ingrained in our cultural psyche that we often find ourselves reenacting it in our everyday lives. Almost as if it’s been hardwired into our very DNA.

In this blog series, I will be exploring the crossover between Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey, Carl Jung’s collective unconscious theory, and you. And in doing so, help you to identify where you are in your own hero’s journey and thus provide the cheat code to level up your life. For a frame of reference, I will be using popular works of cinema, including but not limited to The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings, and Captain America: The First Avenger. 

Are you ready? 

Once upon a time, there was you. 

Every day, you wake up, make a pot of coffee, shower, and head off to work. Perhaps mixed in there is a grumbly conversation with your wife, or you yell at the kids to get out of bed. Still, the gist is that your morning typically involves some variation of waking up, showering, eating breakfast, and going to work. 

Work consists of a few calls, emails, and some pointless small talk with John down the hall. Or, perhaps, you head to a worksite, banter with the guys, bust your ass, then clock out late afternoon or sometimes later. 

Your evenings consist of dinner, followed by a nightcap, and then mindless scrolling on social media. You go to bed around 11 pm, then do it all over again. 

Every day is almost the same as the one before, like rewatching FRIENDS for the hundredth time. It’s familiar and predictable. 

It’s The Ordinary World. 

If you found your way to this article, it may be because you have checked all the boxes in life. You have a stable job, perhaps you’re married or in a long-term relationship, you own a home, a car, and a white picket fence. And yet, something is missing that you just can’t seem to put your finger on. You’re bored. Restless even. But everything is fine. You did everything you were meant to do. You followed “the plan.”

This is the spell of the ordinary world. It’s Neo before he is offered the red pill, Frodo before he is given the ring, and Steve Rogers before he meets Dr. Erskine. All three of these characters share something in common: they are safe within the bosom of the ordinary world. However, there is a stirring in each of their hearts that whispers, “There’s got to be more to life than this.”

And there is. 

Unbeknownst to them, a strange and unfamiliar world waits just beyond the horizon. It exists outside of their realm of awareness. For Neo, it’s the “real” world outside of the Matrix, for Frodo, it’s all of Middle Earth, but for you, this could be a new job opportunity, a fated encounter, or other such shift in circumstances. One thing is certain: it is life-altering, and once it comes to call, there is no going back. 

The danger of the ordinary world is that it is often everything you thought you wanted. It’s the American Dream packaged with a bow. You’ve likely worked very hard to get here. It is familiar and therefore deceptively safe, like falling asleep on a bed of quicksand without realizing that you’re slowly sinking into its deadly embrace. As in the previously mentioned stories, there is often something sinister lurking just out of sight of your seemingly safe world. An unseen enemy at the gate preparing to raze it to the ground; for them, it’s an army of Orcs, energy-harnessing robots, or a sinister group of assassins, but for you, it may be an unforeseen illness, unexpected expense, or a cheating spouse. 

This is by design. You were never meant to stay within the comfort of mediocrity. Like a teenager leaving home to strike out on their own, the hero needs to cross the threshold into the unknown to grow and realize their true potential. If you refuse to do so, you only risk being lulled deeper into its depths, making it more difficult later when you do decide to walk away. There is no growth without change, and there is no new life without first letting go of the old one. 

"We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come.” - Joseph Campbell

Do not make the fatal mistake of clinging to the known. Outside forces will always find you eventually if you ignore the warning signs for long enough. You’ve seen the smoke rising from Mordor and have already sensed that the time to boldly leave the Shire is near.

Will you be brave enough to answer the call? 

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