This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell, my blessing season this in thee!
William Shakespeare, Hamlet
Education is a high word; it is the preparation for knowledge, and it is the imparting of knowledge in proportion to that preparation.
John Henry Newman, Founder of the Irish Catholic Universities, ca. 1850
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
T. S. Eliot, from Little Gidding, – Four Quartets
As regular readers will know, I am currently immersed in the writings of Joseph Campbell, best known for work on the role of myth in the universal experience and, specifically, for his elaboration on the archetypical `Hero’s Journey´ in his book `The Hero with a Thousand Faces´, first published in 1949.
In that book, Campbell describes the narrative pattern as follows: A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered, and a decisive victory is won; the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.
For over seventy years, the Hero’s Journey – also referred to as the Monomyth, has been analysed as an example of the sympathetic plot, a universal narrative structure in which a goal-directed protagonist confronts obstacles, overcomes them, eventually reaps rewards, and, in the dynamic of benign evolution, returns to the `marketplace of life´ or `daylight world´ to share these boons with her fellows, to the benefit of humanity as a whole.
On the topic of return, Campbell writes: `When the hero-quest has been accomplished, through penetration to the source, or through the grace of some male or female, human or animal personification, the adventurer still must return with his life-transmuting trophy. The full round, the norm of the monomyth, requires that the hero shall now begin the labour of bringing the runes of wisdom, the Golden Fleece, or his sleeping princess, back into the kingdom of humanity, where the boon may redound to the renewing of the community, the nation, the planet, or the ten thousand worlds. But the responsibility has been frequently refused. Even Gautama Buddha, after his triumph, doubted whether the message of realization could be communicated, and saints are reported to have died while in the supernal ecstasy.´
This essay will focus on the `return phase´ of the journey since, in a wonderful example of synchronicity, that topic came up yesterday in my reading of Campbells `Return to Bliss´ and coincides with the final stage of my formal training as a PQ (Positive Intelligence) Mental Fitness Coach, namely the certification process, and my endeavours to gain visibility and establish my credentials in the teeming global marketplace of Transformation Coaching.
Here it is important to see that, in my approach, Mental Fitness is a means to a greater end, namely profound transformation. I see myself primarily as a Transformation Coach. This is based on my own life experience, which has taken me through the various phases of the Hero’s Journey, from trying to live life on my own terms to eventually embracing the premise of living life on life’s terms.
The former was a struggle from the get-go and culminated in an existential crisis in my early forties. My good luck was that, in my misery, I was forced to decide between two clear-cut options; consummating my stance of resistance to `what is´ – completion of the process of suicide by instalments, – or embracing an unconditional affirming stance to life, – as life is, – with all its unpredictable vagaries, pleasant, and ghastly. My health has greatly improved since that turning point of crisis. Having, thus far, successfully traversed these turbulent waters, I now help others navigate their own journeys of transformation. This is the boon I bring back from my journey, which is shared with the clarity and compassion I have learned along the way.
The PQ Certification Process, apart from ensuring that candidates grasp the PQ concepts and can apply them to the highest professional standards, examines our business development capabilities, which are key to starting or expanding any business. This is where the issues of – bringing the runes of wisdom … back into the kingdom of humanity, where the boon may redound to the renewing of the community, the nation, (and) the planet – plays a central role.
In the more mundane vernacular of sales and marketing, this involves defining and addressing our niche, gaining visibility within the corresponding target group(s), and establishing the processes whereby potential clients can be engaged, and attracted to receive the boons on offer. Since, in my case, coaching will hopefully be my main source of income until the end of my working life, the `provision of the boons´ needs to be a commercial transaction, executed at a price which is agreeable to both parties.
Campbell begins his description of the return, with its various possibilities and pitfalls, by pointing out that the gift we have to offer upon returning from the journey is something that the world lacks. This is why we went to get it. The `daylight world´ may not even know that it needs this gift you are bringing.
If, when you cross the threshold back into the daylight world, carrying your boon for humanity, instead of a warm welcoming party with smiles, streamers, and trombones, there is no reception at all, what are you going to do? No one cares about this great treasure you have brought. Most people are not even able to see it. This unexpected dilemma leaves us with three possible solutions.
One answer is that you say to yourself, `To hell with them! I’m going back up the mountain to meditate.´ And then you sit with in your library with your cat on your lap, and let the hedge grow high around your garden. And you get to crafting brilliantly astute essays that will be discovered 2,000 years from now and recognized as the greatest writings of the 21st century. You go back into your own newly unified whole and thumb your nose at the world.
The second way is to say, `What do they want?´ Now you’ve got a skill, and you can give them what they’re asking for. That is what’s known as the opportunistic approach. You keep saying to yourself, `When I get enough money, I’m going to quit this racket and do my own big thing.´ Of course it never happens because you’ve created a whole pitch that takes you further and further away from what you had before. It gets lost. But at least you have a career and a robust bank balance, which is something.
The third possibility is to try to find some subset of the domain into which you have come that can receive even a little portion of what you have to give. This is the pedagogical attitude of helping them to realize the need; what you needed, received, and have now got to give. Those are the only possibilities.
The first is the refusal of the return.
The second is the return in terms of society, so you’re not giving them anything of value; they’re only getting what they want. You end up simply indulging them.
And the third is the pedagogical attitude of trying to find the means or a vocabulary or something that will enable you to deliver to them what you have found as the life boon, in terms and in proportions that are proper to their ability to receive.
You can always do this, but it is an approach that requires a good deal of compassion, patience, mental fitness, and the willingness and ability to navigate the world of social media. This last factor is the one that is currently challenging me the most.
Demonstrating his lovely Irish sense of humour, Joseph Campbell, looking back on a half century of teaching, writing, and public speaking, finishes one of his later talks on this subject with the following words: `If nothing else, you can get a job teaching!´
He then goes on to say: `But you will find if you make one little hook into this society, that you presently will be able to deliver your message. I know it´.
