Answering the Call
Written September 27th, 2022 For those unfamiliar with the phrase, it was Joseph Campbell who first introduced it to me. First from his famous interview with Bill Moyer (The Power of Myth), and later from his first book, “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”. It was there that he...
The Madhouse and the Choice
Written April 4th, 2010 “We are living in a difficult time, and whatever defends us from the madhouse can be applauded as good enough – for those without nerve.” That line was taken from Joseph Campbell’s “Myth’s to Live By”, a book I read in my early twenties, which...
Of Dragons and Saints
Written February 17th, 2006 I came across quite an interesting convergence of ideas yesterday while re-watching Joseph Campbell’s “The Power of Myth”, the transcendent six episode interview he gave to Bill Moyers. While watching the episode titled, “The Hero’s Adventure”, Campbell explained how the hero’s journey is a consistent...
A Dog, a Monk, and a Mystery
Written February 11th, 2017 A number of years ago, perhaps as many as twenty-five or more, while reading one of my many books by Joseph Campbell, I stumbled across a line of thought that has stuck to me like Velcro from the moment it first crossed my eyes. Campbell...
On Becoming a Frog
Written March 4th, 2011 Yes, you read that correctly. Becoming a frog, and by extension, exercising my ‘frog-ness’ is, and has always been my goal, an ideal even. And one that I actively and even passionately pursue. This, I understand, will involve something of a digression, which of course...
Protecting What Is Kept Inside
Written February 4th, 2011 From the moment I first felt the impulse to write, which at this point accounts for more than three decades, I became acutely aware of my limitations in doing precisely that. It’s been a struggle from the very beginning. I struggled mightily with English as...