In the Hero’s Journey, the hero (or heroine) always starts in one place. Most of the time it is within their village or home. In this place, they don’t feel as though they belong. Yes, I can hear Belle’s voice from Beauty in the Beast singing: “I want much more than this provincial life.” They go through the motions and try to fit in, but they yearn for something beyond what the others seem to desire. Moana wants to ride a boat in the ocean. Cinderella wants to go to the ball. Luke wants to join the Imperial Academy.
The ordinary world is your current life. It is where you are right now. Most of us feel as though we are a little out of place. We don’t fit in. We have to try harder than others. It is a normal part of being human – an individual. It has many names, but two of them are inferiority complex and imposter syndrome.
The beautiful part of this stage of the journey is that it is the dreaming stage. It is where everything is calm, and you can decide what you want in life. You are not happy with your current life? You can change it. Even if you can’t alter something in your existence, you can alter the way you respond to it. We can be victims, or we can be survivors. Our choice.
Usually, this is the stage where you (or someone else depending on the situation) says enough is enough. If you catch it early enough, you can be the person that decides on the adventure. But adventures are frightening! Staying the same is safe. Sometimes, you go so long that someone else ends up intervening. Do you want to be the person that sits on the couch every day of the week watching other people’s lives on tv and wondering what happened to yours?
We are living organisms. Just like plants, when we stop growing, we move to the next stage of life: entropy. We go back into disorder and wither back into nature. It breaks my heart when I meet people in life who are already in that stage, but they are so frightened of change that they refuse to move on. It is completely understandable. You work hard to finish school, get a job, buy a house, and raise kids. It is scary to put any of that on the line on a gamble on more. Many people will tell you that they are happy – content – where they are at this moment. But do they secretly wish for more?
That is what this step is all about….
Workbook:
What is it that you like/love about your life? (If you say nothing, I bet there is something there if you look deep enough)
What is it that you are dissatisfied with? What would you like to change?
What is something you always wanted to try? (job, hobby, etc.)