The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are – the privilege of a writer is showing who you are to the world. Your story matters and it’s important to explore all the stages of a story through your soul. Rilke, when summoning Kappus to be true to his writing, at whatever cost – “as yourself if you would die if you were forbidden to write.”

My STORYquest workbook – the Writer, the Hero, the Journey explores the Hero’s Journey through a series of writing prompts and inspirations. Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell and Christopher Vogler defined the Hero’s Journey in twelve stages of storytelling, but they left out important information – it’s really a journey of the soul.  Author Raymond Barfield said the hero is too big a size –  “it helps not to be anybody’s Hero – but to just be one beggar telling another beggar where he found some food.”

The Hero’s Journey IS a journey of the Soul – and every story begins with a wound. Once wounded, we live in an ordinary world, which is really a Wall of Protection.  Once we risk change – risk everything – we begin to live our true lives, and those lives become extraordinary stories and extraordinary mythology. If you are working on a memoir, a series of essays or poetry, exploring the Soul Journey will have a profound impact on your content and your manuscript. 

The series will explore the Hero’s Journey as a Spiritual Journey of the Soul. Work from this class may be chosen to be published in the second edition of STORYquest.

The journey of the soul has been compared to a birth:

it starts with being warm and snug in a safe place;

Then comes a signal, growing more insistent, 

that it’s time to leave. To stay beyond your time is to putrefy.

Without the blood and tearing and pain,

there is no new life, and without the details,

there is no good story to share with the world.

In the next 6-week session, writers will create their life stories using a fresh, new perspective:

We are not Heros – we are Souls on a long journey together 

SECOND SIX-WEEK SESSION: MARCH – APRIL*

WEEK ONE:  SYNCHRONICITIES – When we write a book, many writers create a Narrative Drive, which is all the obstacles in your way that lead you to your ultimate Soul Purpose.  What if every obstacle was a stepping stone leading you to the next and the next stepping stone, and you can now connect the dots in the story through every event that led to every other event?  This week we will explore the synchronicities and the magic that helped your soul grow, stone by stone.

WEEK TWO:  THE SOUL’S DARKEST NIGHT – Carl Jung said “there is no coming to consciousness without pain. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”  I also refer to this as Rock Bottom. It’s an ordeal that may seem insurmountable, but when you survive this ordeal, you emerge stronger, and completely changed. Rilke said “if it’s an abyss it belongs to us. If dangers appear, we must try to love them. Do not be afraid when a sorrow as great as any you’ve known seems about to engulf you, casting its shadow over all of you.”

WEEK THREE:  RESSURECTION

Rilke said “We will eventually learn that what we call fate doesn’t come to us from the outside…the future stands firm.” This week we will explore the  reward of survival and a feeling you are now emerging and embracing your newest self.  Often referred to as the Phoenix Rising in the Hero’s Journey, our resurrection is often mythological, as we emerge changed, renewed.

WEEK FOUR:  FORGIVENESS 

This is the Return to your truest self, and often involves going back to the place where your journey began, where you will see the world differently, and they will embrace you as the new person you have become. This week we will explore Ho’oponopono, Hawaiian forgiveness, an essential ingredient in every soul journey, and every return.

WEEK FIVE:  INTEGRATION – SHARING YOUR SOUL’S WISDOM

Rilke said, But only someone who is open to everything, who excludes nothing, even the least explainable, will experience a living connection to others and will, from that, create his own authentic existence.” This week you will explore sharing your soul’s wisdom, and the ways you have reached out and assisted others in their journeys, connecting us all to each other.

WEEK SIX:  EPILOGUE – ONE LAST PRAYER FOR THE WORLD

*Topics subject to change

FIRST 6-WEEK SESSION: JANUARY – MARCH* (for those starting the series over)

WEEK ONE:  THE ORIGINAL WOUND   

The original wound is how we build our walls of protection in our lives, or it informs us toward expansion and catapults us into our journey. How the wound shows up and how we dance with the wound defines our Soul’s Journey.  This week we will explore the wound as a sacred experience meant to inform our Soul. How do we reframe and reimagine our wounding?  This is an essential part of every story, and perhaps the most important part of the Soul’s Journey.

WEEK TWO – SELF PROTECTION

The World of Before is the way your life was before you embrace change. But if we look at The World of Before as a place of Self Protection, or acting out from our wound, then we understand the importance of this part of a story. We create our own lives – often in reaction to the wounding.Writing about the place before your soul is called – before the universe knocks on your door – is essential to show the reader the extraordinary changes to come in the character and the story. You know you have to change, and then…the Universe knocks on your door.

WEEK THREE: SIGNS – A TIME TO CHANGE

Rilke said, “Ask yourself if you would die if you were forbidden to write.” he Universe begins to call to your soul and sends you signs and symbols that it’s time to get up and pay attention.  Your soul knows there is something else you should be doing, and it begins to see signs and symbols everything. Then there is a knock on the door – you better answer that knock, because it’s your soul purpose calling, and if you don’t answer the door, the Universe might burn your house down to get your attention. It’s best not to resist the future, but embrace it, yet it’s our nature to hold back, and resisting stepping into your Soul’s Purpose is also an essential part of every story.

WEEK FOUR: RESISTANCE – We often have to leave people we love or a home that is familiar. We resist the future because the person or place we are living in begins singing us it’s sweetest song, saying stay. We resist the future, because we know embracing change is painful, lessons are painful and ahead of us is the glory, which dances side by side with the pain. There will be sacrifice in your story, as you pack your bag and hope someone leaves the light on in case you change your mind.

WEEK FIVE: ALL IN

Referred to as Crossing the Threshold in the Hero’s Journey, When I first was “All in” on Kauai, I was told the island would initiate me. When I look back on that time, it was more the man who brought me to paradise – he was my initiation. It was trial by fire. I had to decide – was I in love with the man or the island? I knew it was the island and I had to let the man go, and when I did that, everything fell into place – my home, my new career and my next love. This is the time our soul is put to the test, when our radar is on high alert, when our soul learns an important lesson through initiation

WEEK SIX:  EARTH ANGELS –

Every Life story has Earth Angels and Mentors who show up to help you step into your journey and cross the river to the next threshold.   Often these are people who can’t get their own life together, or they are strangers who come in for a moment, and then leave. They are an important part of your story – magical beings who seem to inuitively know what you need and then offer it to you – a home cooked meal, a ride when your car breaks down.  Maybe they are a best friend or a spiritual leader guiding on your whole journey. Sometimes the mentor or earth angel dies, and in their death, they continue to teach you.

*topics subject to change

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