I’m in it. Up to my neck. The project is dense and dark and feels overwhelming.
In Story Land, that’s the point where cool stuff starts to happen. I know that.
But I don’t live in Story Land. I live in Mary Land. (hee. get it?)
Let’s inspect some essential elements of the Hero’s Journey for insight. Story always helps, right?
Element One: Status Quo. How it was before.
Element Two: The Gap. The Call. How “how it was” is not good enough.
Element Three: Refusal of the Call. Cuz, ain’t nobody got time for that.
Element Four: Crossing the Threshold (past the point of no return!). Wheeee!
Element Five: Allies, test, mentors, training and learning.
Element Six: More tests. Keeps getting harder.
Element Seven: Approaching the big test. Things are looking really hairy and scary. And impossible.
Element Eight: The BIG test/confrontation. Result is death.
Element Nine: Death appears to be less “deathy” than first thought (also known as The Resurrection).
Element Ten: The Journey Home. Recovery. Discovery.
Element Eleven: Hero returns home with Elixir (something awesome to share to help other).
Given the steps above, I seem to be at level six. That freaks me out.
Cuz…that means I still have to get through seven and eight before it gets better and I’m already like, aaiiighhhh!
Luckily, phase five came with some amazing mentors and allies, which feel like a life raft right about now.
The Art of Story Project(s) Status Updates
1) The Art of Story Project Book. Yep. I’m planning to have copies in hand by mid August. Holy crap.
2) Rebuilding the Art of Story Online Classes. I’m moving away from the old format (scheduled classes on a strict time frame) to a more DIY friendly format where subscribers can dip into the videos and online coursework whenever and wherever they want. I want to have phase one of the new classes ready to go by mid summer.
3) The Art of Story Speaking. I’ve got a couple big speaking gigs coming up and I want to continue to deliver top-notch speaking so I am still retooling and practicing my content all the time.
What are you working on? Are you struggling? What phase do you think you are on in your hero’s journey? Have you found your mentors and allies. They make all the difference.
And always remember: You are writing a story with your life. Right now.
Make it memorable.
