Holding Out for a Hero

I was watching the third installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy last night, which also happens to be my favorite of the three.  It's got the most action, the most emotion, the most at stake.  Here we see the resolution of the hero's journey in many ways.  We see Frodo live to complete his mission--the destruction of the one ring.  Quite literally, every other action in the story comes about as a result of Frodo's journey.

Perhaps I should backtrack a little here for the benefit of those not familiar with the Hero's Journey.  First proposed by Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung's favorite disciple, the Hero's Journey is a series of steps that each hero goes through on his quest for victory.  Victory is not defined as a win in battle, although it can be.  Victory is defined as finding and fulfilling one's ultimate purpose--going through the crucible of firing one's own mettle to reveal the true hero inside.

Campbell's Hero's Journey is culled from ancient stories, myths, proverbs and oral history in which some man or woman leaves the comfort zone of their everyday life to perform some feat of heroism.  Campbell posited that each such journey featured a similar structure, from the hero's reluctance to heed the initial call to action, the collection of friends, allies and perhaps more foes, the completion of the ultimate task and the return home. 

Christopher Vogler took the concept a step further for writers.  In his book, The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, he examines Campbell's view of the journey and how writers can make use of these structures in their own fiction.

Getting back to LOTR, when you look at Tolkien's trilogy, Frodo is not the only character in the story who is on a hero's quest.  Aragorn, needs to give up the life of the Ranger to become the king he was born to be.  Boromir seeks to bring honor to himself in defense of his people.  Even Sam sees himself as having the mission of protecting Frodo until he accomplishes his task.  Each of them is the hero of their own story.  Each experiences reluctance in accepting the challenge of the quest.  Each finds allies and has a moment when all seems lost.  Each, save for Boromir, shares in the ultimate victory--the destruction of Sauron and the ring.

This complex layering of personal stories, motivations, victories and defeats is what makes the story compelling enough to sustain three movies (and three novels before that).  There is so much at stake for so many people, that the failure of one can be disastrous for all. 

But even in shorter stories, it is essential to remember that each character is the hero of their own story.  They have challenges and tasks that they must complete or overcome.  Every character has an arc, even if it is less dramatic or less essential to the story. Discovering and utilizing that arc makes it easier to flesh out each character, to determine motivations and create a more complex, compelling story.

What do you think?  Do you consider the journey of each of your characters or only your main one(s)?  What are other ways to broaden the scope of your story?

Starting the new year on the right foot.

Long before I ever began to practice reiki, I was a great believer in setting goals.  Setting goals is another way of forming intention, one of the hallmarks of energy work. How can you focus your time, effort, physical, psychic, psychological and spiritual resources if you have no idea where to direct them?

I'll admit, I haven't always been faithful to setting goals each year, but the times when I accomplished the most have been the times I have laid the basis for success by planning ahead.  Here's a worksheet I developed for basic planning.  You can use it or adapt it any way you see fit, but if you post it anywhere, please include the copyright notice.

Writer's Goal Setting Worksheet 


My name: _________________________ Date ________
My daily goals are to:
1. _____________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________
My weekly goals are to:
1. ______________________________________________
2. ______________________________________________
By the end of the year I want to:
1. ______________________________________________
2. ______________________________________________
In five years I want to:
1. ______________________________________________
2. ______________________________________________
My lifetime goal is to:
_______________________________________________________
©2003 Deirdre Savoy

Obviously this worksheet works for overall big-ticket goals for the most part.  For every big goal you have, you may want to break it down into manageable parts that can be completed in days or weeks instead of months or years.  This way you can measure progress toward a large goal.  Tasks don't seem so insurmountable if you can tackle them bit by bit.

How to empower your goals energetically?  This new year's day will be 1/1/11.  You don't have to be a big fan of numerology to recognize that the numerical repetition is significant.  The energies on this day will be all about new beginnings for this year.  On this first day of the new year, take a few minutes to be alone, quiet and calm.  Write your major goals on this worksheet or another piece of paper.  You can do the same for your personal goals, as well.  Light a candle and burn some incense, sage in a coffee cup or cauldron or essential oil in a diffuser.  Sit upright with your feet on the floor.  Hold the papers that contain your goals (folded) between your two hands in a prayer-type position.  Close your eyes and focus on your breathing.  As you breathe in, imagine you are pulling energy into your body, not just your lungs, but deep into you belly, as well.  As you exhale, image that energy flowing outward, down your arms and into your palm chakras.  Intend to send that energy to your goals. Continue to breathe energy in and send it out to your goals for as long as you feel guided to do so.  This may last a few minutes or longer.

I like to keep these papers in a box that I send reiki to as often as I feel guided to do so.  Even if you don't have reiki, you can still connect to your goals by sending energy to them whenever you like in the manner described above.