Allies/Friends/Enemies

Some of these posts about my trip to Alaska were written in present tense, meaning, they are relating to the current time and place I was in at the time. I'm going to do my best to create a bit of a backdrop every time I feel it is necessary, starting here. 

When I flew into Anchorage, I was a day later than expected. As I said in my post about Threshold Guardians, my flight was delayed. Since that happened, I missed a connection with one of my friends who was joining me on this trip, Mark. Mark and I were supposed to meet in Anchorage and ride to Valdez on ferry. Some delays are meant to happen and despite being completely lost and unsure of how I was going to make the 300 mile trek to my destination, I was relatively calm.

That first night in Anchorage I found myself in a hostel, and that is where this story takes place.

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Meeting Allies

Meeting friends, allies and enemies, I've already been blessed with friends. While staying at the hostel last night I was fully encouraged by the men I shared a room with. They asked to hear what brought me to Alaska, and I gave them the short version. We swapped stories and talked about each of our adventures. One of the men called himself a healer. He visited a healer a few years back and said he was cured of all pain. He has come back to share his experience and heal others. The man, named John, spoke of something he called the "reptile brain." There are four functions of this primal brain: fight, flight, freeze and fall. When we experience fear our body is stricken by one of these reactions.

"if we are attacked by a tiger," he posited, "our primal reaction is either run, or fight. Now a days we are not attacked by tigers. Instead we experience these natural reactions in places they were not truly meant to be found."

"where do we experience these reactions?" I asked

"in high school, I had a crush on the girl. She was beautiful. I was virtually dumbfounded in her presence. That out of place fear cost me that relationship."

I shook my head in acknowledgement. I had experienced this exact situation.

He spoke about how fear should not dictate our lives, that we miss out on incredible experiences because of this fear. These thoughts echoed in my mind and heart. We can't be afraid to face our fears with courage. If we become petrified and do nothing when the challenges of life rear their frightful face, we will never grow and learn, which is a natural part of life. Refusing change only creates change for the worse. That is what I learned from John.

Another man I met, frank, was a landscape architect. He was contracted to work in Anchorage from Portland. He told me about his family, his passion for his sons was clear in his eyes. Through his stories about his sons I realized the importance of family, something that has been resounding in my heart over the last few months. 

Frank could not spend much more time away from his family. Though he saw the importance in working to support those he loved. Struggle is at the heart of everyone's story. Frank taught me that struggle is worth the price if you are doing so for others. Right now, I'm not sure my struggle is sacrificial. It's personal, but even as I thought about this, I realized Frank was sacrificing for me. He fed me lasagna for dinner, and in the morning made me two breakfast burritos. I thought about the other people who have sacrificed for me lately; my parents, my roommates, my close and dear friends. All of these people were enriching their own stories helping me. 

When I thanked Frank and John for their advice and encouragement, they said to me in a reassuring voice: "you will pass it on when it's your time." My greatest hope and fear is that I will be able to sacrifice for others when the time comes. These allies I met have given confidence, but I can only ask God to give me open eyes to see when that chance comes.

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This post is slightly misleading because of the title. There is no talk of any "enemies" in it at all. I named the post that at the time because it's one of the steps on the Heroes Journey. As far as enemies go, this summer was very interesting. Perhaps "enemy" is not the best term either. I'll be writing more in depth about enemies in a later post, hopefully sooner rather than later.

For more info on The Heroes Journey, please read this.

The Hero's Journey

Just as a reference for this project, I'm posting the twelve steps of the Hero's Journey so you can have a basic understanding of what each step means. These are all excerpts from a book called The Writers Journey. I'm refraining from spinning these steps in my own words, in order to keep them as simple as possible.

The Ordinary World
This is where the hero is from, the original setting. It is the normal, mundane world. It is vital to any good story to have at least a peak into this usual place, in order to contrast the vastly different special world, the strange new world the hero is about to enter.

Call to Adventure
The hero is posed with a problem, challenge, or adventure. After this calling the hero cannot remain in the ordinary world. This call to adventure establishes the stakes of the story and makes the goals of the character clear.

Refusal of the Call
This step is all about fear. The hero is afraid of the new unknown world and circumstance, and is not committed to the journey yet. The hero must be brought into this new world, this is where the next step takes over.

The Mentor
The mentor is the teacher of the hero. A parent-like relation is established here. Tools, physical and metaphorical are given to the hero. The mentor is unable to complete the journey with the hero, because the hero must take up the responsibility of the journey alone.

Crossing the First Threshold
This is when the hero is fully committed to the journey. He takes that first step into the story, and the action takes off from here. The hero agrees to face the challenges of the journey here.

Tests, Allies and Enemies
After the hero fully commits to the journey, he must face new tests, and meet new people who will become either allies or enemies. In this step we see the stakes of the story deepen as it is enriched by others.

Approach the Inmost Cave
The hero arrives at the gate of the villain. The Inmost Cave is where the object of the quest is hidden; its where the main character will find what he is seeking. This step is mostly about preparation; the Inmost Cave is considered the most dangerous place in the special world.

The Ordeal
This is where the hero's fortunes hit rock bottom as his greatest fears are realized. The hero faces the possibility of death(physical or metaphorical) and is brought to the brink. It is the "belly of the beast." The Ordeal changes the hero as they realize their flaws, and are reborn through the pressure of this step. In this step, the hero often appears dead to the audience experiencing the story.

Reward (Seizing the Sword)
The hero takes possession of that which they have been seeking. The Reward is knowledge or power that will equip them to defeat the enemy or bring healing to the Ordinary World. This is where the protagonist earns the right to be called a hero.

The Road Back
The hero faces the consequences of The Ordeal and is pursued by the forces disturbed when retrieving The Reward. This stage is where the hero makes the decision to return to the Ordinary world, however, the hero knows there are more tests ahead.

Resurrection
Here, the hero who has been in the special world must be cleansed or reborn in order to return to the Ordinary World of the living. It is often the second life or death moment, almost a replay of The Ordeal. Its kind of like a final exam for the hero, who must see if they have actually learned anything from the lessons of The Ordeal.

Return with the Elixir
The hero returns to the Ordinary World, but the journey is meaningless if they don't bring back some sort of elixir, treasure, or lesson from the special world. The Elixir is a magical potion with the power to heal the Ordinary World, restoring any damage that has been done.

There you have it. Those are the twelve steps of the Hero's Journey. I understand that some of them are pretty heady sounding, but trust me, they make sense. I've experienced them first hand, and so have you, even if you haven't realized it.