It often feels like we’re alone as we go through our hero’s journey – particularly on the Path of Trials.
We have not even to risk the adventure alone; for the heroes of all time have gone before us. – Joseph Campbell.
While your story is unique, it does follow the ageless steps that were traversed by literally every hero before you. It is this that really gives the model its power. If you accept that you are on a hero’s journey you can learn from other heroes because they’ve gone through the same steps. Just because your house has never been tornado-transported to Oz, it doesn’t mean Dorothy’s yellow brick road adventure can’t help you in your journey through graduate school.
For example, you’ve recently decided to start your own business. You received a Call to Adventure that took you away from your Mundane World, and now you’re standing at the Threshold – ready to cross. This is a nerve-wracking time, and it’s lonely because you feel like nobody could possibly understand. However, there are countless heroes who have crossed thresholds, and they have advice for you. When Luke Skywalker was about to leave Tatooine he was anxious, but he persevered and things turned out pretty well for him. Samwise Gamgee was nervous leaving the Shire, but he knew it was what needed to be done. The fact that they crossed despite their fears can offer you support as you quit your job to start this new, exciting, and scary business.
This doesn’t just apply to fictional heroes though. If you accept that everyone is on a hero’s journey, then the people around you can help – as can the heroes of history. They’ve accepted calls to adventure and gone through challenging times. They’ve left comfortable, yet boring, worlds in order to change. They know how you feel because they’ve gone through the same steps that you are now.
King Arthur understood this concept. His round table was created to help him through his journey. Sitting with him were knights and kings, Merlin the magician, and his wife, Guinevere. He knew that none of them had been king of England before, but they had all been through their own journeys with the same steps he would be going through. Their experiences would help him.
You should create your own Round Table.
I don’t want you to put a round table in your bedroom and have people sitting around it waiting for you to ask their advice. That would be sketchy. Instead, I want you to get a piece of paper (or cardstock, slate tablet, slab of granite, etc) and create your all-star Round Table. “All-star” means you can use anyone. You can have people that are fictional and real, people you know and people you don’t know, people that are living or dead. Anyone.
You have eight chairs to fill. Who are they going to be?
Place this Round Table somewhere prominent – your fridge, mirror, or ceiling will do. Any time you are struggling in your journey, ask them what they would do. Picture their response to the challenge. They are sitting at your table to assist you, so let them.
Quest Work: (what is this?) This should be obvious. Let us know who is sitting at your Round Table in the comments. Who are they and why did they get a seat?
This might be fun to go out and do interviews with people and have them guest post. They would likely thank you for asking them to do the work!
Great idea Whitney. Do you want to be first?
You asked for it.
Socrates – For his commitment to making citizens wiser, and especially for the humble, civil and respectful manner in which he went about his business.
Michael Young – For bringing near-irreconcilable adversaries together through the discipline of remaining partial to neither.
A dog – For loyalty, trust, and the infinite patience to listen without judgement.
My father – for wisdom, patience, love, and a good nose for success.
Glenn Bryan – For being able to excite others about his vision without feeling the slightest need to take credit.
Mark Twain – Because every round table needs a jester.
George Washington – For knowing when to hang on and when to let go.
My son, Larry – to be on my side.
Thanks a lot Henry. That’s a mighty fine set of Round Table members.
My wife, Kat- she understands my strengths and weaknesses
Aristotle – For sage advice
Martin Luther King Jr. – He is a fighter,in the best sense of the word
Wesley Autrey – An ordinary man who did something extraordinary
Thurgood Marshall – An excellent arbiter
Matt Langdon -A constant reminder for positive change
Cheque is in the mail Kit
British adventurer and soldier Lawrence of Arabia: He drew tides of men into his hands and wrote his will across the sky in stars.
WWII British Prime Minister Winston Churchill: For understanding that some things so valuable they are so worth fighting, and even dying for.
Author Mark Helprin: For illuminating the magic of the mundane. For coloring our lives with magic. For understanding that the best things in life are not digital.
President Barack Obama: For his sincere belief that ‘Yes, We can.” For respect for tradition and history. For statesmanship.
Entrepreneur Richard Branson: For acting on his belief that the sky is not the limit. For becoming wealthy while making everyone else’s lives better.
P.G. Wodehouse: For capturing the funny in normal life.
Thomas Jefferson: For recognizing that man, and government have their limits too. For reminding us that flawed men like us may also be great. For channeling millenniums of wisdom reminding Americans that just because ‘We can’ doesn’t mean we should.
How large is the table? The list goes on.
Thanks a lot Dan. There are some surprises there and some that are less than surprising. Thank you for sharing the men and the reasons.
Ishmael the Gorilla – fictional character, not that well known but the most mind opening stuff I have ever read. If I could have him on hand for advice at any time that would be the best.
Hi,
I just saw this today.
We did something similar last summer – we had an “everyday heroes” summer program; we talked about the hero’s quest, and the week after that it was about not going on the quest alone. During the week, we played games, read stories, and on movie day we showed the kids scenes from Jason and the Argonauts, where Jason invited people to join him on the Argo. In a writing exercise, we asked the kids to fill up their version of the Argo with people they would invite on their quest. And they had to say why.
We didn’t get a chance to talk about King Arthur – maybe this summer we will, as the kids are a year older, and we can do a Round Table exercise (more reality-based than the metaphorical quest on the Argo).
Great post
Thank you.
Thanks a lot Victoria. Building a crew for the Argo is an awesome idea. I’m running a hero camp this summer, so we’ll have to compare notes.
So while my choices are not exactly the most intellectually stimulating, they are indeed the truth of who I would have at my round table. (Sorry for long delay, Matt, I did put a lot of thought into this.
Marie, my lifelong best friend – full of unconditional love, loyalty, and support (and ok, ok, bias in my favor
, Marie is and would be my rock in times of doubt and decision. Her blunt, no-nonsense approach to the world serves as a balance to my overly-analytical approach, and her presence at my round table would push things to move forward while lessening the fear.
Madonna – a woman who knows, understands and puts into practice what it means to reinvent oneself and be strong against all odds. She’s not afraid of trying something new, and I would look to her in times of change – to bring her expertise of change into the mix, whether that change is within or for myself, for others, or for the world around me.
Steven Cox, founder & CEO, TakeLessons.com – my boss, my mentor. A man with a belief first in people before profit, he’s consistently seeking to do the right thing with pride and perseverance. He serves on my so-called round table today as someone who believes in personal accountability and the ability to consistently improve oneself and the world around him. (Or her.
King Arthur – because he sure knows how to put together a round table. It helps that he was a successful and inspirational leader, albeit a fictitious one.
Laurell K Hamilton, author – for her amazing ability to paint pictures with words, and clearly communicate beyond a shadow of a doubt even the most incredible of possibilities. For her sometimes morbid yet fantastical imagination.
George Carlin, comedian – even the most serious of topics could be made hilarious by this man. He’d never allow a dull moment.
That’s quite a diverse list – thanks a lot. I appreciate you reading and taking the time to conceive of and post this list.
George Carlin was hilarious.