Joseph Campbell quotes: Day 2

[NOTE: As we begin The Quest, I figured it was a good time to bust out some Joseph Campbell, progenitor of The Hero’s Journey. This is one in a series of posts from 2010 featuring notable Campbell quotes.]

From Monday, December 20-Sunday, January 2, I’m going to post a Joseph Campbell quote each day at 9AM PST. Why? Because the end of the year is a time to reflect on our lives — what we do and what we hope to do, who we are and who we hope to become. And Campbell’s deep immersion into the world of stories resulted in some profound wisdom about human existence. I hope you find inspiration in Campbell’s words. Today’s quote:

“The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.”

Picking up on my reflections yesterday — about how Campbell’s observation about shedding our “old skin” in order for our “new skin” to appear is the essence of the Protagonist metamorphosis arc — think of the story you are working on right now. Consider your Protagonist. I’m willing to bet they go through some sort of metamorphosis. You may not even have been aware of the dynamic as you’ve been writing. But track their emotional and psychological journey: Where do they start out? Where do they end up? Have they changed?

The idea of “being who you are” speaks to metamorphosis because it is about a process of the individual going within their Self to find what is truly at their Core Of Being. The events of the Plotline impact movie characters, but the essence of their transformation lies inside their Self, tapping into aspects of their psyche that have been present all along, allowing them to truly “be who they are.”

For more on Joseph Campbell, go to the Joseph Campbell Foundation.

[Originally posted December 21, 2010]

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