So I just came off of a webinar with Chris Vogler, and I think I can finally put into words what I've been thinking about these past few weeks. I hope this does my writer/artist friends some good.

How can the hero's journey relate to the current crisis? 1/

First comes the ordinary world. It's not perfect, but we know how to navigate it, for the most part. Obviously, this is what we've come from just a month or so ago. 2/

Next is step 2, the call to adventure. This makes us nervous and our instinct is to hunker down, get close to the earth. We lean into our lower chakras. This is why a lot of us are baking or sleeping more. It's our instinct to pull away. 3/

Some of us are stuck at this next step--the refusal of the call. You'll see people in denial or hear conspiracy theories disputing reality. Failure of leadership only exacerbates this as it creates a void. 4/

So then we seek out a mentor for wisdom. Some of us can't get enough news or we rely heavily on our faith. We hoard medicine (and toilet paper) as outer guards and search our past for interior boosters. This is where a lot of are still, which is expected. 5/

But then we cross the threshold to the new world and gradually accept the new normal. We realize things won't ever really be the same, but that's okay. Hopeful, even. Life isn't linear, after all. It's a spiral. We can get close as we circle back, but not quite. 6/

Next we have tests, allies, and enemies. Isn't it incredible how quickly we changed our modes of communication? And who we choose to communicate with? It becomes clear who we prioritize and who we're okay without. 7/

And the tests act as an alchemical purification, helping to transform who we are to become. Have we washed our hands? Checked on grandma? Learned how to grocery shop? What have we made room for that we neglected previously? 8/

If you've been paying attention to the virus models, you've probably noticed that the curves look a lot like a plot line--the one with a slight drop in the middle then a dramatic spike right before it ends. For fiction, we want this! For reality, not so much. 9/

As we approach that peak and the alchemical process heats up, the filters we typically see through fall away. New qualities emerge in us and we learn about ourselves. Remember, transformation is hard. Watch a butterfly emerge from its cocoon. It has to be difficult. 10/

This becomes the first ordeal--the part where we have to experience a metaphorical death (and tragically for some of us a literal one) in order to rise up. If we're willing to face this ultimate transformation as the scarab shows, we will resurrect renewed. 11/

This next part can be dangerous. We all love the reward. We get to, as Chris said, "feast on the dragon you killed." This is that part in the model between the two curves. It's this dip where our heads can get too big, our ego overinflated. People stop isolating. 12/

What's interesting to me about the reward is that in movies, there's typically a lot of light imagery. How appropriate is it that we're being told we might have that same light as we enter into a slowing of the virus at holy times and into summer, where light is best. 13/

So now we're on the road back. Even though it feels like we're getting back to normal, everything speeds up. We're a protagonist on a train racing toward the washed out bridge. If we're not careful, the evil thing (virus) can come back. I know, super great for anxiety. But... 14/

Yay, it's the resurrection! We experience death again as it mirrors the Ordeal. Here all the chakras are engaged. Every experience we've had and everyone we've learned from in the new world comes into play. We realize we've transformed and can now kick ass. 15/

Next is the return. We get to bring the elixir home. The word elixir comes from an Arabic word that means "healing powder." And we get to share it with the world. Think Buffy at the series finale (no spoilers here). Now we've mastered both the inner and outer worlds. 16/

Writers and artists. We are the ones with the vision, the modern day shamans who've been trained for this very thing. To create means to bring forth new life, and we are the midwives of this apocalypse. It isn't an easy gig, but it's a necessary one. 17/

We have the ability to bring forth a new vision, but not by directing it. It's our job to receive it like the newborn it is. We've been told to go inside, and we must do so literally and metaphorically. Going inside means exploring our depths. 18/

James Hillman talked about dehumanizing as an act of seeing beyond our own suffering. Like Buddha, he suggested we sit with our darkness and don't try to examine or analyze it. Simply acknowledge it and look to see beyond. 19/

An example would be to look at what's happening in the natural world right now as people are withdrawn. Yes, we are experiencing pain and winter-like emotions. But our alchemy creates new life in not only ourselves, but in where we're not. It's a promise of spring to come. 20/20