“The price of greatness is responsibility.” Winston Churchill
Welcome to a powerful concept in writing and personal development: Lifewriting. Simply put, Lifewriting explores the
bridge between myth and consciousness. It is both a professional-level writing tool and a profound means of life-planning
and self exploration. Specifically, we’re asking the question: Why does one crucial pattern, which Joseph Campbell called
“The Hero’s Journey replicate itself through all human history, and through all cultures?
Lifewriting suggests that the “Hero’s Journey” repeats itself not only because it is the basic course of our lives, and is
recognized as such by all people, but because the pattern itself is a fascinatingly useful way to organize personal resources.
This enables writers to create a channel directly from their lives into their writing, and vice-versa. Working on either is
working on both!
Our statement of Joseph Campbell's pattern is:
1) Hero confronted with a challenge
2) Initially, she rejects the challenge
3) Then she is forced to accept it
4) She sets out upon the road of trials
5) On which she gains allies and powers
6) She has her initial confrontation with evil, and is defeated
7) She enters the “Dark Night of the Soul”
8) She takes the Leap of Faith
9) She confronts evil again, and this time is victorious
10) The student becomes the teacher.
In step #1, the “Confrontation”, the issue is responsibility. Clearly, the first and most important step in life is accepting
“Response-Ability” for your actions and the results we want. We all know people who have refused to do this, blaming
society, parenting, spouses, employers or educators for their current situation. How does this affect the three major arenas
of life (body, mind, and spirit)? To examine, let’s look at the external manifestations of these three arenas: Physical health,
Career, and Relationships.
Physically, this leads to people denying themselves their full energetic aliveness. Telling themselves that genetics or
environment make it “impossible” for them to be fit, healthy, and sexy.
In Careers, this leads to a person abandoning dreams because they don’t have the education or “opportunities,” rather than
simply deciding to do Whatever It Takes to succeed ethically.
In Relationships, this can lead to a string of damaged, destructive affairs, rationalized as “there aren’t any good man/women
out there.” The person who takes responsibility commits to completing whatever healing or growth may be necessary to
attract and hold a worthy mate.
Whatever your challenge in life, its root is likely to be found in one of these three areas. The Lifewriting system insists that
you have goals in all three arenas. By committing to heal in all of them, you are absolutely guaranteed to confront your
demons—and any progress you make will be GENUINE progress, not merely sweeping your problems under a rug.
MOVIE ANALYSIS
How does this work in fiction? The suspense film PLAY MISTY FOR ME, starring (and directed by) Clint Eastwood is a
good example. In this film, an obsessive fan (Jessica Walters) stalks Eastwood. It is truly nail biting suspense, but one of
the interesting things is the complete passivity of his character.
Because we are used to Eastwood as a “Man of Action,” decisive and aggressive, we watch disbelieving as Walter’s
escalating insanity unravels his world: he simply can’t take a stand! He is stuck at the “first step” of the hero’s journey, and
it isn’t until the end of the film that he is forced to take an action (step two), and the entire third act is a collapsed form of
steps 3-9.
The last step, “Student becomes teacher” is left to the viewer’s imagination. Tension is created in the film by painting him as
a somewhat dishonest, manipulative seducer. He doesn’t know how to deal with honest emotion (his girlfriend) and let
alone insanely intense emotion (Walters). He is literally paralyzed.
I invite you to examine the times in your life that you have been frozen by fear or complacency, and ask yourself:
1) When I got myself out of it, what techniques did I use, or what finally pressured me?
2) What are three other movies or books where the plot existed primarily to force the lead character to make a decision?
3) What has “decision reluctance” cost me in my life? What would I gain if I learned to take full responsibility for my life
and actions?
Exercise for the writer: Very simple. Ask the above questions of your lead character. The more honest you were in asking
the questions of yourself, the easier it will be to find those moments in your character’s life.
Until next time, remember—it’s your life: Be the Hero of your story!
Steven Barnes is a bestselling science fiction writer, martial artist and personal performance specialist. With over two
million words in print, his works have been nominated for both Hugo and Cable Ace Awards. He is the creator of the
acclaimed Lifewriting seminars and audiotape set. For additional information on his products and services visit:
www.lifewrite.com/sb_for_writers.html
He may be reached at Lifewrite@aol.com
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