With summer ending and fall around the corner, Mother Nature is letting us know that we are once again approaching a time of transition, a time to notice and appreciate endings and the beginnings inherent in them. 

This transition from summer to fall reminds me of our life journey that consists of endless beginnings and endings…and then new beginnings.  It also reminds me of Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey where he describes the journey or “quest” in narrative terms as stories that have a common structure (a particular series of required steps), a common theme (some variation on the coming-of-age story), and a common moral (courage and persistence when facing awesome challenges bring deep learning and great rewards). Though details of any particular hero's journey vary greatly, Campbell says they all follow the journey from the known into the unknown and then back again: embarking on an adventure, facing daunting challenges often accompanied by a mentor, discovering some type of revelation that leads to a transformation, making atonement, and returning home wiser and often richer (in knowledge, relationships and/or actual wealth).

When we look closely we see the hero’s journey all around us – in books, movies, our own lives and the lives around us.  But we don’t often think of others or ourselves as everyday “heroes” on a “quest.”  What would happen if we reframed ourselves this way?  I don’t know, but I do know it’s a fascinating question!