by Joseph Campbell. I am reading it.
I am not sure what to say except that at times I was absolutely stunned reading it, because with the epic fantasy novel I am working on, I am using symbolisms he refers to over and over… some I was very much aware of, and some… no, not really. Incredible stuff.
I don’t think I can express to you all how personal this is, how… I can’t. I don’t seem to be able to express how much this is moving me without seeing who is ready and willing to dig down in a much more esoteric way. Not even sure a blog is appropriate for such things.
It was a natural extension after reading “Iron John” (by Robert Bly) and “King, Warrior, Magician, Lover”.
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the tao of jaklumen 
August 30, 2012 at 10:02
Ahh!! I read one of his books a couple of decades ago…myths…intriguing!! And his conclusions, comparisons, etc. have popped up in my mind often, over the years, while reading other things, watching movies, observing people, and how they react/interact. He was an important voice and the symbolism he described and explored is powerful.
I _think_ he was the guy who said, “Follow your bliss.”
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August 30, 2012 at 17:10
Yes, I’m sure you’re right– he said it most notably in a video interview with Bill Moyers.
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August 30, 2012 at 10:04
LOL!! Sorry about those lines. I was typing on autopilot and used the RedBubble formatting (Textile?). It was suposed to be in italics.
🙂
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August 30, 2012 at 17:12
I’ve fiddled with HTML and formatting codes long enough that I’m not even bothered. Interesting, though– I expected that formatting would yield underline. So I have learned something today. RedBubble’s formatting might be like what 43Things uses; could be fun to check.
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January 23, 2014 at 10:49
I’m a little curious now, considering I’ve started to work on a book of my own. I wonder if I’d find connections of my own.
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January 23, 2014 at 11:05
It couldn’t hurt to see if there are connections. I don’t think they are absolutely necessary to have to create a great story, but if there’s a heroic element, then I think the pattern is useful.
I said “Whoa” a lot because I wasn’t even intentionally following the pattern. I don’t doubt that many stories that I’m influenced by most certainly did, but the connection I noticed first was how I seemed to be working through real-life hurts in the writing. And moreover, I think it can be counterintuitive to follow the Monomyth as a strict formula. I seem to get the impression that Hollywood is weary of such formulaic writing, which probably came in droves after Christopher Vogler’s memo, and George Lucas revealing he was influenced by Joseph Campbell.
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