Angie Albrightwww.AGrowingSeason.co

@AngieAlbright @AGrowingSeasonFacebook.com/agrowingseason

For Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged, 2012, ArkansasWomenBloggers.com

Myth and the Hero’s Journey in the Blogosphere

Yes, you and Gilgamesh and Ferris Buehler have something in common.

Why do we tell stories? Why do we blog?

• For the same reason humans have since they could utter sound or use sticks to write on clay.

• Why do you blog? You have a story to tell.

Why do we tell stories?

“For, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. There isn’t any other tale to tell, it’s the only light we’ve got in all this darkness.”

James Baldwin, “Sonny’s Blues”

What is myth?

• “A myth is something that is “’more than true.’” Myths are stories that are universal, that are true for all humans regardless of culture or time period.”

Linda Seger, “Creating the Myth”

What is myth?

• “Myths are stories of our search through the ages for truth, for meaning, for significance.” We all need to tell our story and to understand our story, which includes passages from birth to life to death.

• “We need for life to signify, to touch the eternal, to understand the mysterious, to find out who we are.”

Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

Where do we find myth?

• Movies• Books, stories• Our friends and family• Television – sitcoms, dramas, reality tv• And . . . wait for it . . . Blogs. Your blog. • Your story. Your life. All of these stories in

whatever form resonate with us because the hero’s journey story is our story.

Examples of the hero’s journey

• Gilgamesh• The Odyssey• Wizard of Oz• Star Wars• Ferris Buehler• Oh Brother, Where Art

Thou?• Gone with the Wind• The Help

• Shrek• Survivor• Sully the Pilot• Story of Jesus• Story of Buddha• Your kids• You• You as a writer

I. Departure Stage• Departure – hero departs on the

adventure

– The Call to Adventure– Refusal of the Call– Supernatural Aid– The Crossing of the First Threshold– The Belly of the Whale

Stages of the hero’s journey myth are adapted from “Hero’s Journey: Summary of Steps” – Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction (MCLI), Maricopa Community Colleges

II. Initiation StageInitiation - hero is being intitiated into the new world:

–The road of trials – juiciest stories of the tale–The meeting with the goddess–Woman as the temptress–Atonement with the Father – center point of the journey–Apotheosis–The ultimate boon

III. Return Stage

• Return – hero returns back into the “real” world and assimilates into old life– Refusal of the return– The magic flight– Rescue from without– Crossing the return threshold– Master of the two worlds– Freedom to live

The Cast

Archetypes

Definition: Symbols (including characters, images, and themes) that have a universal meaning for the entire audience.

The Cast

Common Archetypes

Wise old manGood motherShadow figureTricksterAnimalsScapegoats

From: Seger, “Creating the Myth” and Bedford St. Martin’s World Literature glossary

You as the Hero• You are on the hero’s journey! • What stage of the hero’s journey are you

telling? • How can you structure your story in a way that

maximizes the universal nature of your story? • Who in your life fits an archetype? • What events in your life, in your day, in your

week tell the story of your journey? • Add depth to your stories by playing up the

archetypes.