Every great tale that has ever been told is one of tragedy and triumph, fall and redemption, struggle and overcome. Countless myths through all times and cultures are formed around this plot. Joseph Campbell calls it “the hero’s journey.” In those life-altering encounters with grief, it takes nothing short of a hero’s vulnerability and courage to walk through that darkness and struggle to reach the place where light can be found.
In a classic 3-Act form, our story might sound something like this:
Act 1:
The rules of the world are established. We grow up, we form understanding of our world and our God. We develop our hopes and our dreams. We build our careers and our families. We fall in love. And then, as in all the great stories, as Act 1 comes to a close, there is the inciting incident, some unsolvable problem presents itself, the tragedy strikes, the child dies.
Act 2: (Using inspiration from Brene Brown)
“This is the part when we’re in the dark. We’re too far in to turn around and not close enough to the end to see the light....It is where the protagonist looks for every comfortable way to solve the problem, every easy way to solve the problem, every way to solve the problem that does not require the heroes vulnerability. How can I solve it without being vulnerable? It’s not until the lowest of the low moment happens that our protagonist, our hero, realizes, ‘I can’t solve the problem without vulnerability.’”
And so we take the plunge into that vulnerable space. And only there, where we are battling our demons and teetering on the edge of destruction, do we find our light, our meaning, our hope, and our courage.
Act 3:
While looking at ourselves covered it dust, tears, sweat, and blood, knowing our shortcomings and our failures, we also know that we have been transformed for the better. We have let our grief become our teacher, we have learned the lessons. We’ve discovered peace within the sorrow, meaning on our path, growth in humility, empathy and love, and an unimaginable resilience of spirit. We have found redemption. And while we feel like anything but heroes, we have definitely traversed the hero’s journey.