At the time I didn’t understand what that was gnawing away at me, so I began to read widely and deeply. I started a journal. I reflected. What was my purpose? Who was I? What did I value? And who did I want to be?

For too long, I allowed obstacles to keep me from making my own Hero’s Journey. I was following the wrong map. 

I needed to chart my own course, with a destination that was meant only for me. 

I began to learn things about myself. I began to understand my priorities in life – something I thought I already knew. Up ahead, I began to see a new destination that embraced and cherished those priorities, as opposed to the place I had been heading, which was taking me farther away.

I learned that there are two worlds in which we live our lives: an outer world and an inner one.

The outer world is familiar to us because it’s where we spend most (if not all) of our time. It’s the world in which ambition rules, our achievements are applauded, and the Joneses must be kept up with.  

The inner world is where our real potential lies. It holds our hopes, desires, and fears. It’s here we find our purpose for existing in the first place. It contains more powerful gifts than any applause we’ll get from a crowd, any promotion or position we receive from work, and you definitely can’t put a price tag on it.  

I also found that the path to the inner world wasn’t easy. I discovered many obstacles that exist in the outer world and block admission into our inner one.

It has been a long road. 

I’m still on my journey, making my way back to my own Ithaca, but I decided to come back for you. 

Over the next twelve months, I’ll shed light on what I’m learning about the Hero’s Journey and the obstacles that block us from examining our inner worlds, and I’ll share the tools you’ll need to start your journey, tools which have been around since humans began to write their ideas down. 

As Richard Rohr reminds us, “Only Odysseus was trying to get home at all costs, and he is a stand-in for what we all must be…The end is already planted in us at the beginning, and it gnaws away at us until we get there freely and consciously.” 

These emails will help you get home.

Next week, I’ll introduce you to the Hero’s Journey and so that you’ll be ready to learn why the blueprint is so important for us to find our way home. 

Thanks again for signing up for this email! 

One more thing! Copies of My Green Notebook: "Know Thyself" Before Changing Jobs are currently on sale for a limited time on Amazon for$9.02! If you are looking for a way to get into journaling, check it out! 

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