Exploring the commonalities that exist in human storytelling, from the most ancient of myths to the most modern popular culture, reveals the patterns by which humanity at large has learned and evolved. In this module we will discuss these universal patterns, what Joseph Campbell called “the monomyth,” and how they are reflected in fiction and in our own lives.

As we look at the first of the monomyth’s three acts, in which the hero sets forth on their journey, we will reflect on our own “status quo” and the incidents that incite change in our lives. How do we resist the “calls to adventure” that might change us? What is the threshold that we must cross to meet our challenges? What will we take with us? What must we leave behind?

We will follow the heroes and heroines of myth into the belly of the beast, exploring the first half of the monomyth’s second act. In deconstructing the downward spiral of cause and effect that leaves our protagonist at their lowest point, we will reflect upon those challenges and traumas that block our own progress.

We find our protagonist at their lowest point, stripped bare and scoured out, but ready to start the long climb. They are not climbing back up to their old life, however, but to a new one. And the challenges on this new road cannot be met with old tactics. As we analyze the second half of the monomyth’s second act, we must ask how we failed ourselves in the past, and forge new weapons and ways for the future.

In the final act of the monomyth, the protagonist returns to the world, but with a new sense of vision and purpose. This act is about how the hard-earned epiphanies of Act Two are integrated into a new life in Act Three. In this module we will be discussing those moments of vision and clarity that have changed your own life story.

Modern storytelling structure follows rhythms first set down by Plato and Aristotle and repackaged ever since by screenwriting teachers like Robert McKee and Blake Snyder. In this module, we’ll apply the more granular “beat by beat” modern storytelling approach to the personal myths we’ve discovered thus far. In doing so, we will explore more specific patterns of choice that have informed your personal story.

Every journey is complete through a process if integration. Sharing your personal story, now thoroughly explored, is a means of integrating yourself into the world with a sense of honest accountability and a new vision of the future.