In this short story, I will demonstrate how Joseph Campbell's "Hero's Journey" theory is applied to people in real life. I will use Tomislav Perko's travel adventure to demonstrate how it follows the stages in the Hero's Journey. I will call this: TOM'S HERO'S JOURNEY: THE SEARCH FOR MEANING."
Recently, I came across a TED Talk video on Youtube, and the guy presenting it was Tomislav Perko, a travel adventurer from Croatia. While watching it, I had a "Hey, that's the hero's journey" moment. Everything that happened in Tom's life follows the patterns in the Hero's Journey. I wondered if he knows it. While I attempted to write my auto biographical novel, I also realized that my family's journey from Laos-to-Thailand-to-America followed the Hero's Journey. If you're a storyteller or screenwriter, you'll find this blog useful in helping you understand and plot your story. Please read on.
Tom, the hero begins this story in:
The Ordinary World: Croatia, a country in the Balkan between Slovenia to the north and Bosnia to the south. All he knows at this point in his life was the things inside his country and his job - a stock broker.
Opening Image (a before picture of the hero's life): Tom is well off but lacks meaning or true understanding of life. A stock broker, Tom has a nice home and makes good money. But mundane, there's no excitement or fun in his life.
Character Introduction: Tom is the hero; he lives in Croatia (ordinary world) where everything is familiar to him. He is a stock broker working a typical 9-5 job Monday -Friday. Like everyone else, he's repeating the same rat-race everyday.
Current Status Quo/State of Affairs: His social condition and economical situation are good, but he's unhappy. He lacks the true meaning of life. He feels something is missing deep within himself.
Inciting Incident/Call to Adventure: Then in 2008, the Economic Crash shakes up his life and status quo - Tom loses his job and all his stock money. He moves from a house to an apartment, and the meaning of life becomes worse for him. Depressed, one day Tom discovers a website called "Couch Surfing," an Internet website that allows people to host travelers in their homes and allows them to stay in other people's homes. So Tom starts hosting 150 travelers in his apartment. The travelers come and share their amazing travel stories with Tom. Tom now has an urge to travel.
Refusal of the Call (fear and personal obligations often stop us from adventuring out): But Tom is afraid. His entire life has been lived in Croatia, he has been led to believe by the media, education, church and family that the world is a dangerous place (Don't we all feel like that especially here in America). He is afraid of leaving the comfort of his ordinary world. He's afraid of going alone into the unknown of the outside world and not having any money to do so. Fear is what's holding Tom back from taking on this adventure.
Meeting with the Mentor: The travelers are his mentors (a wise person or seasonal adventurer/traveler) . They give him guide and knowledge about traveling and possibly about the outside world (not as hostile as we perceived it to be). They tell him what he needs and doesn't need to travel. They tell Tom he "doesn't need to be brave, just a little courage" to leave his comfort zone, and little money. Tom learns 3 basic things to travel: "transportation, accommodation, food and water."
Crossing the First Threshold: Tom finally leaves Croatia and enters Serbia. His adventure begins.
Special World: All the different places and countries outside of Croatia that Tom will go into are the special world. When Tom crosses the border and enters Serbia, he is now in the special world - the unknown.
Tests, Allies and Enemies: Tests are confrontations/struggles Tom encounters and the odd jobs he takes during the journey and all the elements and environment he has to endure. Allies are the different races of people Tom encounters in each country who help and aid him; those people who let Tom stay in their homes and provide food. Enemies are the people who refuse to help Tom. Those people who turn away or get into confrontation with him; anyone who is against or hostile toward him.
Approach Inmost Cave: The approach is a time or moment when the hero is about to face the most difficult challenge of his life - a life an death situation. Tom's approach to the inmost cave would be his preparation to cross the desert. Packing food, water, gathering info about routes, the traffic and distance. Tom makes no mention of this in his video, but it should be somewhere near the middle where it leads Tom to face his ordeal/crisis. Maybe it's when he's waiting to hitchhike on the road in the middle of nowhere.
The Ordeal/Crisis (Christ's crucifixion is is ordeal): Tom makes no mention of a painful experience or anything (ordeal), but this would be his lowest moment (In the life time line, our lowest moment usually happens at mid age where they call "midlife crisis") where he's hungry or has no money, the means to continue his travel journey. This is an experience that once a person overcome, he or she will gain a new insight. So, I'm going to guess one truest to Tom's travel. Say Tom is in the middle year of his four year of traveling, and he's in Africa. He wants to cross from Zimbabwe to Mozambique, but he has to cross a treacherous desert. While crossing the desert, Tom suffers great hunger and thirst and he appears to die, lose consciousness. Night comes and he wakes and pushes on until he finally arrives at a village. Tom then realizes it's good to be alive.
Reward/Seizing the Sword (Christ's comeback): A reward is something he receives after overcoming the ordeal/crisis in the middle of his journey. Tom didn't mentioned anything specific, but this reward can be food and water given to Tom when he reaches a village and/or if he's broke with no money to travel, the reward can be a job that earns him money. So now, he has the strength or means to continue his travel journey.
The Road Back: This is a moment of doubt or hesitation. A stage where Tom has to return home to Croatia, his ordinary world. As Tom mentions in his video, it's been a "fun and exciting journey," and he doesn't want to return because he's not sure what is awaiting him back home. He will have doubts, similar to fear in the "Refusal of the call" stage. Sometimes, the hero doesn't return. He makes his home in the special world and stays. But in Tom's case, he returns back to Croatia.
Resurrection (basically means reborn like Jesus after his crucifixion): This stage is the same as the ordeal. If a painful experience doesn't happen in the ordeal, it will take place in the resurrection stage.
Return with the Elixir: When Tom arrives home from his travel experience, the elixir he brought back is knowledge/understanding of the outside world/insight of the unknown. Tom will share his knowledge with his community -- this -- he does it through this TEDx. Tom has learned not to trust the "media and their horror stories," he learned to "preserve the earth, and to "tear down [his human] prejudices" that despite our "cultural and religious differences," deep down we humans are ALL THE SAME; and he's sharing his knowledge with us.
New Status Quo/ State of affairs: Tom is now a changed man. He doesn't have the same old restrictions and prejudice beliefs anymore. He's seen the world and has become a worldly man. Back home, Tom is "a star/hero" that people want to be around. "But after a while," as Tom puts it, "you become bored," and have an urge to want to go on another adventure. Instead of traveling again, Tom becomes a mentor and shares his experiences with the community.
Closing Image (an after picture of the hero's life): Tom is now a new person. He's found the true meaning of life; he has finally realized that to truly be happy, he must feel like he belongs to something like a home, but at the same time he must not live an idle live. He must live an active life by exploring his environment and connect with people. To simply put it, one must not live in a bubble. Below you can watch the video and determine it for yourself. See if you can spot the Hero's Journey patterns.
Recently, I came across a TED Talk video on Youtube, and the guy presenting it was Tomislav Perko, a travel adventurer from Croatia. While watching it, I had a "Hey, that's the hero's journey" moment. Everything that happened in Tom's life follows the patterns in the Hero's Journey. I wondered if he knows it. While I attempted to write my auto biographical novel, I also realized that my family's journey from Laos-to-Thailand-to-America followed the Hero's Journey. If you're a storyteller or screenwriter, you'll find this blog useful in helping you understand and plot your story. Please read on.
Tom, the hero begins this story in:
The Ordinary World: Croatia, a country in the Balkan between Slovenia to the north and Bosnia to the south. All he knows at this point in his life was the things inside his country and his job - a stock broker.
Opening Image (a before picture of the hero's life): Tom is well off but lacks meaning or true understanding of life. A stock broker, Tom has a nice home and makes good money. But mundane, there's no excitement or fun in his life.
Character Introduction: Tom is the hero; he lives in Croatia (ordinary world) where everything is familiar to him. He is a stock broker working a typical 9-5 job Monday -Friday. Like everyone else, he's repeating the same rat-race everyday.
Current Status Quo/State of Affairs: His social condition and economical situation are good, but he's unhappy. He lacks the true meaning of life. He feels something is missing deep within himself.
Inciting Incident/Call to Adventure: Then in 2008, the Economic Crash shakes up his life and status quo - Tom loses his job and all his stock money. He moves from a house to an apartment, and the meaning of life becomes worse for him. Depressed, one day Tom discovers a website called "Couch Surfing," an Internet website that allows people to host travelers in their homes and allows them to stay in other people's homes. So Tom starts hosting 150 travelers in his apartment. The travelers come and share their amazing travel stories with Tom. Tom now has an urge to travel.
Refusal of the Call (fear and personal obligations often stop us from adventuring out): But Tom is afraid. His entire life has been lived in Croatia, he has been led to believe by the media, education, church and family that the world is a dangerous place (Don't we all feel like that especially here in America). He is afraid of leaving the comfort of his ordinary world. He's afraid of going alone into the unknown of the outside world and not having any money to do so. Fear is what's holding Tom back from taking on this adventure.
Meeting with the Mentor: The travelers are his mentors (a wise person or seasonal adventurer/traveler) . They give him guide and knowledge about traveling and possibly about the outside world (not as hostile as we perceived it to be). They tell him what he needs and doesn't need to travel. They tell Tom he "doesn't need to be brave, just a little courage" to leave his comfort zone, and little money. Tom learns 3 basic things to travel: "transportation, accommodation, food and water."
Crossing the First Threshold: Tom finally leaves Croatia and enters Serbia. His adventure begins.
Special World: All the different places and countries outside of Croatia that Tom will go into are the special world. When Tom crosses the border and enters Serbia, he is now in the special world - the unknown.
Tests, Allies and Enemies: Tests are confrontations/struggles Tom encounters and the odd jobs he takes during the journey and all the elements and environment he has to endure. Allies are the different races of people Tom encounters in each country who help and aid him; those people who let Tom stay in their homes and provide food. Enemies are the people who refuse to help Tom. Those people who turn away or get into confrontation with him; anyone who is against or hostile toward him.
Approach Inmost Cave: The approach is a time or moment when the hero is about to face the most difficult challenge of his life - a life an death situation. Tom's approach to the inmost cave would be his preparation to cross the desert. Packing food, water, gathering info about routes, the traffic and distance. Tom makes no mention of this in his video, but it should be somewhere near the middle where it leads Tom to face his ordeal/crisis. Maybe it's when he's waiting to hitchhike on the road in the middle of nowhere.
The Ordeal/Crisis (Christ's crucifixion is is ordeal): Tom makes no mention of a painful experience or anything (ordeal), but this would be his lowest moment (In the life time line, our lowest moment usually happens at mid age where they call "midlife crisis") where he's hungry or has no money, the means to continue his travel journey. This is an experience that once a person overcome, he or she will gain a new insight. So, I'm going to guess one truest to Tom's travel. Say Tom is in the middle year of his four year of traveling, and he's in Africa. He wants to cross from Zimbabwe to Mozambique, but he has to cross a treacherous desert. While crossing the desert, Tom suffers great hunger and thirst and he appears to die, lose consciousness. Night comes and he wakes and pushes on until he finally arrives at a village. Tom then realizes it's good to be alive.
Reward/Seizing the Sword (Christ's comeback): A reward is something he receives after overcoming the ordeal/crisis in the middle of his journey. Tom didn't mentioned anything specific, but this reward can be food and water given to Tom when he reaches a village and/or if he's broke with no money to travel, the reward can be a job that earns him money. So now, he has the strength or means to continue his travel journey.
The Road Back: This is a moment of doubt or hesitation. A stage where Tom has to return home to Croatia, his ordinary world. As Tom mentions in his video, it's been a "fun and exciting journey," and he doesn't want to return because he's not sure what is awaiting him back home. He will have doubts, similar to fear in the "Refusal of the call" stage. Sometimes, the hero doesn't return. He makes his home in the special world and stays. But in Tom's case, he returns back to Croatia.
Resurrection (basically means reborn like Jesus after his crucifixion): This stage is the same as the ordeal. If a painful experience doesn't happen in the ordeal, it will take place in the resurrection stage.
Return with the Elixir: When Tom arrives home from his travel experience, the elixir he brought back is knowledge/understanding of the outside world/insight of the unknown. Tom will share his knowledge with his community -- this -- he does it through this TEDx. Tom has learned not to trust the "media and their horror stories," he learned to "preserve the earth, and to "tear down [his human] prejudices" that despite our "cultural and religious differences," deep down we humans are ALL THE SAME; and he's sharing his knowledge with us.
New Status Quo/ State of affairs: Tom is now a changed man. He doesn't have the same old restrictions and prejudice beliefs anymore. He's seen the world and has become a worldly man. Back home, Tom is "a star/hero" that people want to be around. "But after a while," as Tom puts it, "you become bored," and have an urge to want to go on another adventure. Instead of traveling again, Tom becomes a mentor and shares his experiences with the community.
Closing Image (an after picture of the hero's life): Tom is now a new person. He's found the true meaning of life; he has finally realized that to truly be happy, he must feel like he belongs to something like a home, but at the same time he must not live an idle live. He must live an active life by exploring his environment and connect with people. To simply put it, one must not live in a bubble. Below you can watch the video and determine it for yourself. See if you can spot the Hero's Journey patterns.