light sabre, please!

In the Hero's Journey, the 'destruction of the status quo' at the beginning of the story is deemed the Call to Adventure. That's when all the good stuff starts to happen. Well, usually, that is after all the bad stuff has happened. Think of Luke Skywalker when he returns to his home after visiting with Ben Kenobi. The Evil Empire has marched through in his absence, leaving a wake of destruction and a dead aunt and uncle. He receives his 'Call' and he is engaged in an epic struggle -- good vs evil. His world view had to be toppled in order to get him to find himself and discover his destiny and true identity.

I've heard this described as trauma: the dismantling of one's accepted frame of reference, status quo, dearly held beliefs and values. And it is traumatic to have your world up-ended. It's fascinating actually, unless, of course, it's happening to you.

How I wish that it were all as straightforward as the epic call, when it's straight black or white, and you can't mess around in the middle. Reality though tells me that most of our 'call to adventure' begins in the muck and grime of everyday living and something or someone steps into the picture long enough to blow the house of cards down. The cards go down, and we must begin either to reconstruct the same house or to build a new one, maybe even throwing the cards into the fire and starting fresh with brick and mortar.

The beginning of the new year has met me with it's fist in my face. Come on, I dare ya! Taunting me, goading me, pulling at my heart strings and pulling annoyingly at my hair. What are you, a sissy?! I'm not really appreciating the call to adventure on this scale, and yet, the fact that it's coming to me fills me with hope mixed with a heavy side of anxiety. What the hell is going on, I wonder? How will I respond?