The other day I went to see Find Joe, a movie about Joseph Campbell's The Hero's Journey.  In case you're not familiar with his works, Joseph Campbell did extensive research into the mythology of early civilizations and beyond, and he found a common story among all mythologies which he calls the The Hero's Journey.  The journey begins when a cataclysmic event forces the hero to leave his home. 

The event that propels the hero is life altering and causes the hero to leave the life he's known to find something new, the Truth that the hero feels he/she must find.  The second stage is the hero finding him/her self facing many challenges.  And, at the end, the hero returns home to share what he/she has found.

I so identified with the story.  I've always, since a very young age, felt like I lived my life straddling a fence.  On one side was the society I was born into which had rules and ways mapped out to succeed in finding happiness in life.  On the other side was the creative part of me that loved my imagination and got lost in my dreams and visions.  I managed to live both parts at the same time, one at a time.

During the last 20 years I've had my life turned upside down.  Because I was struggling monetarily for the first time in my life, I tried to "make do" without.  The loss of financial freedom sent me back to live the other side, the one in which I followed society's map of creating a life full of happiness.  It worked for awhile.  I was much better off financially, but I got more and more depressed with a job that was becoming more and more stressful.  I couldn't find the time or energy to paint. My creative outlet gone, I finally worked up the courage to jump into what Campbell calls The Hero's Journey.  I left my job and began to paint full time.

I had enough money in my 401K to get me through at least 6 months without a job.  My main focus was Trusting the Process of my journey, which got me through a lot of fear as I painted and marketed my art.  As I struggled remembering to Trust whenever the fear of the future came up, I finally got a job substitute teaching and I received some money from some property my brother sold.  It was in an estate my mother left to me, my brother and sister.  As I continue to face the daily challenges of my life, I keep remembering why I'm doing this.  There's no going back.  I love the  freedom I have now to use my energy to paint and write.

The reason I'm sharing this is because of the movie, Find Joe.  It's extraordinary and I fully recommend you see it if you're at all wanting to know more about your own journey.  In the coming blog entries, I'll be sharing more about my creative and financial challenges, and how the synchronicities and miracles always seem to come to help me on my journey.