Surfacing with The Fish: The Hero's Journey, Campbell's Parting Gift, and Beginning Again

This is the beginning of a new series about growing consciousness to live more fully. Crediting Joseph Campbell as a brave teacher who taught about collective belief systems in the late 20th century to awaken everybody to their own adventure. Appearing as stories that share unifying lessons for our human experience, we walk the path of the mono-myth- the cycle of adventure, revelation, and restoration. 

This first step is to simply desire to become aware ….relating to the metaphoric story by David Foster Wallace… about a couple of fish discussing the water. they swim in. This episode is about awakening to the possibility that you can choose your journey of discovery. You can even choose what you want to discover. And ultimately, you can be sure that the treasure you’re seeking has been with you all along…but now is the time to unearth your gifts because you’ll need every one of them on your new journey. It is time to begin again. 

Learn more at HilaryCrowley.com where you can book private sessions, track my upcoming events, and join The Good Energy Healing Club. Follow me on Instagram@ hilary_crowley_

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:15

Hey, this is Hilary Crowley, and welcome to the Good Energy Healing Show. I'm starting a journey today, journey Today I've been on a mission to try to figure out how we can develop our intuition and how we can find our way through any healing process that we need, whether it's mind, body, or soul. I know I talk about separating those three things, but sometimes they do need to be articulated. What is the soul's journey? What is the mind's journey? And, and, and what is the heart's journey? What is the body's journey? All of these, these journeys are part of us, and until we start talking to ourselves about how all the other journeys run together, we're going to be lost in the wilderness. We're going to be truly lost in the wilderness. So the biggest thing to discover is to think about the idea of being lost. Do you feel lost? Is there any part of your life where you feel lost? Whether it's , um, what's going on in work or what's going on in your sleep routine? Where do you feel lost? And when are you gonna look around and realize that you're in unfamiliar territory? I was with a client yesterday and we talked about the fear of being lost, only to discover that the real, real idea of this is the discomfort of the unfamiliar. So think about the difference between fear of being lost, fear of being someplace that you don't know where you are, and surround yourself with the idea that you're never lost. You are just seeking new territory. And by the nature of it being new, it's gonna be unfamiliar . So think about the idea of the discomfort of unfamiliar territory, knowing that getting out of your comfort zone is everything you need to find your way on a journey, on the healing journey, oftentimes referred to as the hero's journey. So, welcome to the Good Energy Healing Show. I welcome in the beautiful teaching of Joseph Campbell, who brought many concepts from different hemispheres and traditions and mythology , uh, to the United States in the 1980s through a popular broadcast called The Power of Myth, which later became a book. When I was studying , um, for today's episode, I found out that not only was that recording powerful beyond measure, I brought in the popular culture references to Star Wars using footage in the recording , uh, with Bill Moyers. But I also found out that those were the last two years of Joseph Campbell's life. Did you know that he had cancer? He had cancer. And so he was leaving a legacy , uh, for the future, a legacy that was accessible , uh, legacy through the power of video and film and recordings, because his, his life was about academia and, and writing books and writing really elaborate theories about the power of mythology. But he jumped forward and just let himself be recorded and seen , so you could put a face to the wisdom. And so I welcome in through the non-ordinary reality that we're about to talk about the spirit of Joseph Campbell, with great amount of, of appreciation for him, taking this risk to leave his comfort zone of academic thought and bring it into popular culture where we so desperately needed it and need it. Why do we need it? Because we used to sit around a campfire, and every grandmother would tell every grandchild the power of the journey, the power of the journey that starts in the day and ends at the night, just like the rising and setting of the sun. We would go to the campfire and we would talk about what we learned and share each other's journey, and by nature, learn exponentially how to go through this life. But as we expanded beyond the unfamiliar , um, conquesting, the un unfamiliar conquering it, we became more and more comfortable and less and less lost. And it's the lost part of every journey to get lost. Um, that is where you find your way through your journey. So getting out of your comfort zone is, is oftentimes how we refer to it. Um, I love the bumper sticker, all who wander are not lost, but maybe all who wander are lost on purpose. So the first step of the hero's journey, according to the model that Joseph Campbell laid out for us, is to be aware of ordinary reality. Become aware of what your ordinary reality is. Become aware the word ordinary reality can get really distracting. So how about just become aware of who you are, where you are, what you're doing, and how you're doing it, that's gonna help you understand ordinary reality. Who you are today. How do you define who you are that will help you understand what your ordinary reality is? Where are you? Where are you? What part of the world are you in? What part of your life are you in? What part of your home are you in? Are you in a home? Wh where is your comfort zone? Are you in a car? Are you on a street? Are you in the woods? Where are you? That's your ordinary reality. Are you on a sidewalk? Are you on a muddy path? Where are you and how, how are you doing? It's a great question. How are you doing? Really ask yourself that question. How am I doing? This is a nice way to look at your comfort or discomfort with your ordinary reality, because you're about to start a journey just by listening to this. You're gonna become aware that the journey happens to you. There are three ways that the journey happens to you. You are pulled into it, you choose it, or you're in it and you don't realize it. So there's no realization you're on the journey no matter what. If you look around and you look at every single person that you know, they're all on a journey. The question is, did they choose it? Were they forced into it, or did they quietly slip into it without knowing? Um, sometimes you get pulled into it, sometimes you get sent away. Um, sometimes it's the, it's the force of action , um, that that comes to you. If, if a tornado is coming your way like Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, you're pulled into it. You're forced into it. Um, but also as I go through my day, I'm going to discover what journey surrounds me. And then there's some of us who say, I'm going to go on an adventure and I'm gonna be challenged, and I'm going to climb that mountain peak, knowing full well that there will be parts of that mountain peak where I wish I never started. There'll be parts along the way to that mountain peak where I will stop and take a break. There'll be ta parts on that journey where I'll be so grateful that I've had this moment. There'll be parts that I thought I planned for and I didn't plan for, but overall, I will have been the one who started knowingly to go up that mountain. And I will be the one who set the goal, the promise to myself to make it to the top of the mountain. That's just another way of doing it. It's not right or wrong, it's something to be aware of that the journey doesn't not happen. It's just really cool if you can be conscious of it happening. Um, and that's what this episode is all about. And it begins with understanding the difference between ordinary and non-ordinary reality, because that's your first step, is to leave the ordinary reality behind. And the first step to that is to recognize that you're in an ordinary reality. I wonder about this idea that adventure means that we're doing something , um, physical difficult, scary, that adventure means that we're taking on something big. I actually think that adventure oftentimes is deceptively small. And that what we're truly doing, the true bravery that comes with adventure is this step right here, which is to say, I am waking up. I'm waking up. I'm waking up to realize that my reality is inside my consciousness, in my consciousness is inside my body. And we talk about the mind, as I said. Are we separating it? Are we keeping it with the body and the soul? What is consciousness? Consciousness through mythology has been represented by water and going underneath water from the beginning of human history. If you are alive, you are familiar with water. Water is part of a sign that we're healthy, that we have access to water, and water is in our body. So it would make sense that the water, which is both outside of us and inside of us, would be the mythological representation of consciousness and going under the water. Whether that's something you do where you feel comfortable swimming, I love to swim and I love to swim under the water, but I also know and respect a lot of people who do not like to swim under the water. I know people who do not like to swim at all or do not swim , um, do not like to go in the water. Nevertheless, we have water in our life. So the water consciousness is a big part of the metaphor and the mythology of consciousness. So water, consciousness, which has its own being, but as humans, we've taken that symbol and we've made it an extension of our being. So here we are thinking about consciousness, leaving ordinary reality, saying yes to the adventure because the adventure's gonna say yes to us. The journey is gonna say yes to us. That's the bravery. The bravery is saying, I see where I am right now. And the only thing I know about life is that I cannot stand still. I am not going to be in this same situation in the next moment. Something will change. The light will change, my life will change. So why don't I pay attention to what else is gonna change? Will somebody come into my awareness? Will somebody come into my room? Am I going to gain something? Am I gonna lose something? Am I going to move somewhere? Am I gonna become hungry? Am I going to desire to move? Am I going to have a bodily need? It's not gonna stay the same. It's not gonna stay the same. So become aware that your reality, your ordinary reality is changing for you. Maybe, maybe just, maybe you wanna step up and come up to the surface of the water, look around and say, ah, no matter what, I've been swimming in this for a long, long time and I'm ready. I'm ready to have one journey in my lifetime that I'm aware of. And that's where we're at. That's where we're at right now. Choosing, choosing to leave the ordinary reality to start your journey. What are some examples of that? You know, I , I think about the , I think about them in terms of the movies, the great classic movies , um, the Wizard of Oz, star Wars, the Matrix. Um, it's a wonderful life. I'm just thinking of like, kind of, you know, Americana movies and you know, they all bring you right to the edge of a lot of danger. And in the case of the Matrix, I actually think it's just like got way too much. And I could even say this about , um, star Wars as well. You know, there's just a lot of fighting and a lot of violence and, you know, the metaphors become not so metaphorical. Um, and I think the problem with that is that it's not honest in its truest depiction of what it truly means to be on the hero's journey. It's not so loud and blaring. It's , uh, really, really subtle. It's really, you know, the quieter moments of discovery. And around that there can be noise and there can be drama. But I'm going to hypothesize that one can walk through the healer's journey and the hero's journey without anyone else noticing. It's really the opposite of a great blockbuster movie. It's this quiet relationship between you and yourself, and your nature and nature around you, and change and discomfort and the unfamiliar. I welcome you to get really curious about what journey you're on today, really. 'cause it's a waking up, waking up to ordinary reality so that you can leave the ordinary and begin the journey. Leave the unfamiliar, but you have to know what you're familiar with and choose the journey. Instead of having the journey kind of silently choose you. It turns out every journey leads to the same treasure, the same revelation, over and over and over again. And the revelation is that the wisdom that you were seeking, the treasure you were seeking, the mountain peak that you were climbing, the, the accomplishment, the goal, the promise you make to yourself, whatever shape your , your, your final reward comes in your final aha moment. Your final achievement, I guess I should say, comes in whatever shape it comes in is secondary to the fact that it's shapeless. And it looks and feels like this epiphany that everything you ever needed, everything you ever knew was always within you. Like a great spark of light. And all the traveling that you did far, far, far away, you were always there. And it's the you this energy healing this inside self that we talked about. Um, this inner wisdom was always about you and was always about your consciousness interacting with the world. And the illusion that you are ever separate from yourself, separate from your soul is restored. And you, it's renewed in a way that there was no illusion that it's true. You have always been with yourself and that self inside of you is powerful, has access to love beyond measure, wisdom beyond measure, and then part of the cycle, because this is shaped like a circle is that you'll forget. I feel like that's the free will. The free will contract with being human. You forget. You forget that you're connected. And lo and behold, the next adventure starts. The next journey starts. So the next step on, on this journey is you're gonna be called to adventure. You're gonna take the call to adventure. You're gonna hear the call to adventure. You'll have choices of which adventure to take , but how can you know that there's an adventure upon you if you don't even understand that your ordinary reality is underneath the water? I love the little story about the two fish, shortest story ever. I learned about it while my son was writing a ninth grade essay. Um, how I had not heard this before, I don't know. But it was two fish and one fish swims up to the other fish and says, Hey, we really need to talk about all this water. And the other fish answered says, what is water <laugh>? I'll say that again. One fish swims up to this other fish and says, Hey, we really need to talk about all this water. And the fish answers, what is water? Um, so you're both fishes, and one of you is swimming up to the other part of you <laugh> and says, Hey, we really need to talk about all this life. And you can look back and say, what is life? And don't let, let that be a rhetorical question. Sit in that question, what is your life? What is your reality? What is your ordinary reality? Because you're about to jump into the non-ordinary reality, and it makes life so beautiful, give so much meaning, purpose. And ultimately part of it is to discover your gift. And what is a gift? A gift is your contribution to yourself and your life. And I think by the nature of everything, that gift, once discovered and revealed, brings more love, healing, and peace to all aspects of your life, including the people you love, the planet you love, the community, and everything in between . I think about Joseph Campbell and how brave he was to just sit and take all of his knowledge and allow it to be interviewed , um, to trust that it was gonna all come together. He was asked by Bill Moyers if he thought he was a hero, and he said, no, no, no. He said, but he was an outlier. He was an outlier. He , uh, he was the archetype of the one who would standing on the side. And I think, I think if he, if he wanted to answer it a different way, he could say, of course, I'm a hero. We're all heroes. I have my own hero's journey. He didn't reveal in the interview, at least the part that I saw, that he was the hero and his own heal literal healer's journey of coming to the end of his life. But I certainly think that he knew his role in this time. And we'll talk about it as we get further down the journey and more episodes to come, that a great guide arrives. A great guide arrives. It could be in the form of a book. It could be in the form of a friend, a teacher , uh, anything that presents you with information and wisdom from the outside, from another person. That's part of the journey is to realize that you're not alone. And I believe Joseph Campbell on the Greatest Story of Them all, which is the cycle of the journey itself, in which every story that's ever existed , um, exists in <laugh>, I just said exists twice. But , um, it's really no other way of saying it. Um, it's the existence inside the existence. Inside the existence. Can you feel that? Can you , can , can you feel that that's us going into the non-ordinary reality? I think he understood that he would be able to be the one who could speak to us way past the point of leaving this life through the veil, through the mystery and magic of recordings and publishings and putting things into legacy. Um, he refers to a very famous scene in Star Wars. It's the, it's the, the first movie that came out, A new Hope. And he refers to the moment where Luke has, he's in a, he's in a , uh, jet fighter. So it's, you know, a fairly violent , uh, warrior soldier archetype that he's in. But he needs to , um, he needs to go against evil. And , um, by attacking evil, he's using all of his technology to find his way to the perfect point where he can shoot at the evil and destroy the evil. And OB one Kenobi , who is his guide, his outside guide, his wise one , uh, the wise elder , um, he pushes, he pushes all the, the mic , the , the microphone and the sound. And he , he , he pushes away all the technology , um, that was really ahead of its time back in the 1970s. Um, he pushes away all that technology and he hears OB one Kenobi speak from the other side of the veil, whether it's from his memory. Uh, the movie makers don't make it clear whether it's from his memory of , of the guidance and the wisdom that he has, or if it's a , an actual visit from the ghost of OB one Kenobi . But he says, Luke, use the force. Use the force. And when he pushes all the technology away, he becomes part of this microsecond journey of leaving the ordinary reality of all the externals and goes deep into the internals. And , uh, it works. He's able to find the exact exact point he needs to do away with the evil that's been attacking him. And that's how quickly journeys can happen. He went all the way through the journey in about 15 seconds or less. So whether you wanna look at the journey you're on, that's the lifetime. That's the daily, that's the momentary. Do yourself a favor and look at it and leave the blur of the ordinary. And when the fish swims up to you and says, Hey, wanna start talking about this water thing? You can be a friend to the other side of your consciousness and say, yeah, I just noticed <laugh>. What , uh, what's up with all this water? What's up with all this water? So I'm Hilary Crowley. Um, I'm starting a journey here , uh, with these episodes. This is the hardest part, and the bravest part is to recognize ordinary and non-ordinary. The unfamiliar is not being lost. The discomfort is not a reason to feel fear. And the bravery comes in the remembering that there is an ordinary reality that chooses us in a non-ordinary reality that opens the gate so we can hear the call to adventure. Thank you so much for listening today. Um, this is the Good Energy Healing Show and I'm delighted to be here with you, and I'm looking forward to what the next episode will bring. Joseph Campbell said that we could no more predict the next step of our life than we can predict the dreams we have at night. The idea that we're predicting and knowing what is coming next , um, causes great <laugh> , causes great stress and strife, and it's really not part of ordinary or non-ordinary reality. It's actually just a pickle jar that we put ourselves into. So wake up to the wonder of life and enjoy your beautiful day, however it unfolds. And allow yourself to let the journey choose you , um, to be pulled into the journey, or you choose the journey. It doesn't matter. Uh, what does matter is love and expression and connection and belonging. And I hope you've enjoyed today's episode. I'm Hillary Crowley, and have a beautiful day walking through your ordinary to non-ordinary reality. If you've enjoyed this podcast, if you've enjoyed this episode, please remember to hit the stars, share this with other people, and , um, and just remember to come back. Thank you so much, and I'll catch you the next time. I .