The hero’s journey is where one person brings back the boon for the community. We are now seeing that the path leads on from there, and that we are headed in the direction of becoming a true we.
There are forces which seek to pull us apart, help us to the side of the road where we too can throw stones and roll in obstacles. But these forces are to be given their due: arrest and containment of their hate, so that the community can move ahead. There will always (that is, for as far forward as I can see) be this side of us that is not met and desires not to be met. There will always be competition, separation, and vilification. These need not hold us back if we see them for what they are: the forces of destruction, the forces we need at times, but the forces that, if left to their own devices, will annihilate life.
So perhaps we enter the heroic community’s journey. Hero’s derivation means things like superhuman strength, physical courage, demi-god, defender, protector, watcher-over, great bravery, chief actor in a story. I like this last: what nuance it lends is that the heroic community is the chief actor in its own story.
So what is a prototypical heroic community’s journey? It is one faced with a need to move, which causes it to hear all voices: those of the external world putting this demand upon us; those internal to the community inviting us to make various responses; those of all of us seeking to bring wisdom and wholeness. Once we have heard the voices, we determine immediate next steps. From these twins (hearing and action) we gain hope. We take our steps and then step aside and hear again. A cycle is initiated: hear, respond, hear…. A respiration: in and out, back and forth. We are spiraling to new views, new wholeness, never complete, ever completing. Or so I envision today.
:- Doug.
