The Hero Within
By Carol S Perason
Most of us are slaves of the stories we unconsciously tell ourselves about our lives. Freedom begins the moment we become conscious of the plot line we are living and, with this insight, recognize that we can step into another story altogether. Carol S. Pearson, PhD
Sunday I listened to a poet talk about the difficulty of making art right now. It’s hard, he told his audience, to make meaning when we’re in the middle of such tumultuous unrest. We can barely grasp the complexity of a world pandemic, social upheaval, silly squabbles and behavior ranging from uncivil to violent and unjust. We won’t see the art, the poetry, the stories unfold until later. After we’ve had a chance to catch our breath. To stand back and try to make sense of it. Now, he suggests, is a time for artists to observe, expand through reading and exploration, perhaps even rest.
No one can anticipate how this will transform us. Or perhaps more personally I can’t anticipate how it will transform me. But I can begin learning how to use it as a catalyst for stepping into another story altogether. For moving forward on my journey.
It seems I am always in the middle of something. As I have struggled to find meaning in experiences, Carol S. Pearson’s book on archetypes has been extremely helpful. I especially like her explanation of how different archetypes populate our psyche at different times, depending on our developmental tasks. The Orphan archetype, for example, that experience of abandonment and loneliness, helps us when we need to survive difficulties. Like now.
In the book, she offers eight major ways archetypes can help us on our journey, with explanations and examples for each.
Archetypes provide a structure that makes immediate growth possible in an unexpected experience or situation,
Archetypes help us grow and develop.
Archetypes can help us make peace with our lives.
Recognizing archetypes can provide the freedom to choose the life we want.
Archetypes can help us achieve balance and personal fulfillment
Awareness of the archetypal plot lines that determine our life can give us the freedom to avoid making mistakes - or making the same mistakes over and over
Archetypal recognition can help us better understand others and how they see the world
Understanding the archetypal basis for the ways in which we see the world cannot only make us smarter, but also helps us see beyond the unconscious bias scholars and journalists often bring to their work.
You can learn more about how this works in Dr. Pearson’s book. She also recently developed an online assessment to help people see which archetypes are playing most strongly in their experience. She shows us the gift that each archetype brings to our journey (resilience for the Orphan) and the task of psychological development each archetypal experience helps us navigate. You can take the assessment and receive a report on your archetype scale here.
You can also learn more about Dr. Pearson’s work at her website.
To see my own brief explanation of archetypes and their place in literature and story, click here.