timed writing

Joseph Campbell explains that one’s life is considered a journey or adventure. In every journey, there are different adventures or trials one must go through in order for the journey to become complete. Campbell describes these steps throughout his book and relates them in ways appealing to the reader. Although there are many steps a hero must go through to complete his or her adventure, his departure, initiation, and return are the most important steps.
The departure involves the hero receiving his call of adventure, his refusal of the call, then his eventual departure. The Matrix is a movie we refer to a lot while reading Campbell. In the movie, Neo meets Morpheus, thus receiving his call to adventure. At first, he isn’t sure what is going on, and isn’t sure if he should accept this call. It is very common for a hero to reject or hesitate on answering his call, but sometimes a hero has no choice. In The Metamorphosis, Gregor wakes up and discovers that he is a hideous bug. Thus, beginning a new adventure for him in which he has no choice but to accept the journey. In my memoir, I had no choice but to move to Florida with my family, so in some cases, your call to adventure could be answered for you.
The next major step is the initiation. Along with the initiation comes the road of trials. This is the time where the hero goes through the dark cave or the enchanted forests. He is knocked down, but gets up and learns. It is important for the hero to surpass these trials in order to complete the adventure successfully. For Neo, he had to live a completely different life. He learned how to jump across buildings and dodge bullets, which ultimately helped him in his journey. In The Metamorphosis, Gregor’s first trial was moving around in the room, then eating, then hiding, and basically all other techniques used for daily survival. Gregor’s initiation consisted of him learning to live a bug’s life and erasing the human version from his memory. In my memoir, I had to grow accustom to my new life in Florida. This included going to a new school, making new friends, and eventually making the basketball team. Every hero must overcome trials and tribulations to in order to move forward in the adventure.
Finally, the return is a sum of everything the hero has learned throughout the journey, and how he or she has applied it to their life and adventure. The hero has been through all of the steps. He has used the secret potions, killed the dragon, and saved the girl and ultimately lives happily ever after. In The Matrix, Neo has come back to life after everyone thought he was dead. He begins to fight off the agents and brings hope back to his adventure. His return includes the absolute understanding of the matrix and the fact that he is the one. In The Metamorphosis, he realizes that in order for his family to move on with their life, he must sacrifice himself for their benefit.