We’re all the heroes of our own stories, but the heroes we admire in literature and on the screen find themselves undergoing spiritual and emotional transformations more often than they find themselves using the bathroom. If all of us are heroes, each going on a continuous, limitless, and recursive journey throughout the stages of our lives, then where are you in your journey? How does it relate to your current struggles? What lessons are here for you to learn? 

Every journey has a lesson waiting to be learned, so once we’ve learned the lesson, what comes after?

“My house says to me, ‘Do not leave me, for here dwells your past.’ And the road says to me, ‘Come and follow me, for I am your future.’ And I say to both my house and the road, ‘I have no past, nor have I a future. If I stay here, there is a going in my staying; and if I go there is a staying in my going.’ Only love and death change all things.” -Khalil Gibran

Once we’ve overcome our doubts, tread into the unknown, and learned the lesson, it’s the hero’s duty to return home and share everything they’ve come to know. But some returns are more tumultuous than others. The path to returning home can be a dark and circuitous one. In reality, our points of origin are not always points of comfort, and once you reach the peak of your knowledge, it can feel like there’s nowhere to go but down. 

Even in fiction, the great idealization of the human experience, the hero’s descent can feel like a sickening plummet. Once the hero gets what they want, they must pay the price. Luke Skywalker was finally able to get his Jedi training from Yoda, but right afterwards he learns that his father is an evil cyborg, loses his own hand, and his friends wind up imprisoned, enslaved, and scattered across the galaxy. 

Your own journey might not be quite so theatrical. At least, I certainly hope that your descent doesn’t involve you voluntarily falling thousands of feet through an air shaft like Luke Skywalker’s did. In fiction, storytellers often make the things we feel figuratively literal. When we get what we want (finally, and after much struggle), there is an accompanying comedown. When you have finally climbed the mountain, there is still a mountain to climb down from. It’s all downhill from there (the hardest part is over), but it can also be all downhill from there (you’re not getting any higher). 

The study of storytelling is the study of change.

A story is not a story until something changes. In order to make it as far as you have, it took major changes in your attitudes, philosophies, and methods of being and doing. You had to become the person who could face the obstacles and learn the lessons that were in front of you. Doing that was hard. It required a sizable investment of sweat equity to get where you are now. And yet, the journey isn’t over. 

“If you are falling… Dive.” -Joseph Campbell

There are challenges yet ahead of you. With your hard won knowledge, you have the tools to face them with wit and courage. The challenges behind you were challenges of becoming. Now that you have become, it is time to adjust. This is your opportunity to make changes, rewrite patterns, and change your life into one that best suits your rejuvenated self. So let’s say all of that goes perfectly (because perfection is both normal to expect and possible to achieve), what then?

• The Return. Once you’ve adjusted to the comedown of learning your hard-earned lessons, it’s time to bring that knowledge back home. The mythical hero becomes a hero when their story is told, and the return means it is time for your story to be shared, celebrated, and told. 

• Now What? When the journey is complete, it can feel like you have no direction whatsoever. Who we are is molded by the journeys we undertake. Our tools are purpose-built to handle the obstacles that are in front of us. So what are we supposed to do when those obstacles are behind us?

• Setting Intentions. When we’re lacking direction, we don’t have to wait for the Lady of the Lake to hand us a sword and a quest. We can set our own path with any destination we choose, if we learn how to choose wisely. 

 If you feel stuck on your healing journey, working with a therapist can help. Based on your needs, our intake specialist will help you get matched up with your perfect therapist. Click here to schedule a consultation.

Sunny Ebsary is an educator, multi-modal artist, and writer specializing in the intersection of myth and mental health. Sunny’s writing walks the line between poetic and logical, giving readers a chance to interface with the mind and imagination. Sunny’s been putting pen to paper since he was a child, writing everything from albums, novels, and plays, to essays, interactive games, and of course, many articles! While studying both psychology and writing, he realized his real passion in life was helping others unlock their creative spark. Whether he’s leading a D&D game, directing a production, or diving deep into the brain, you can be sure Sunny will be ushering you toward finding meaning in your life.