The Hero Path

We have only to follow the thread of the hero path.  Where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god; where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves; where we had thought to travel outwards, we shall come to the center of our own existence; were we had thought to be alone, we shall be with all the world.

- Joseph Campbell, The Hero With A Thousand Faces

Too Many Options For Significance

We are a culture that prides itself on having an endless array of choices ever before us. Choice gives us the space to be free; free from becoming pigeon-holed or defined to one particular way. Choice also embodies movement; a movement towards the significant.

To us the allure of choice begins with possibilities, possibilities become opportunities, and opportunities turn into hope. And what is the hope? That we might be able to move beyond our current situation and live a life of uniqueness and significance.

And so Significance drives our existence. From the time we are young and told that we are “special” to the moment we graduate assured that we were “created for something more” we desire to make choices that will lead us into a meaningful life.

Choice and Significance seem to be the perfect pair however is it possible that our over-indulgence with choice leaves us empty in our pursuit of meaning?

“As a society of consumers, we define choice “not as freedom to choose one course of action over another but as the freedom to choose everything at once. This is the ‘I-want-it-all’ mentality. ‘Freedom of choice’ means ‘keep your options open.’ However, in real life every choice of any consequence inevitably rules out a whole series of other options. It is literally impossible to ‘keep your options open’ and live a life of any significance.” (Truth Is Stranger Than It Used to Be)

Maybe, then, discovering our significance is found in making the difficult decisions that refine us into the people God has designed for us to become.

The Value of Usefulness ("Man's Search For Meaning" pt. 5)

How do we measure one's value? The systems of our society teach that value comes with success. Success, a word seeming always illusive as one strives for a better career, a bigger house, and more income. We then de-value that which cannot lead to success, causing us to look at those who cannot "produce" (the poor, children, the elderly, etc) as having less value.

In "Man's Search For Meaning" Frankl writes: "...usefulness is usually defined in terms of functioning for the benefit of society. But today's society is characterized by achievement orientation, and consequently it adores people who are successful and happy and, in particular, it adores the young. It virtually ignores the value of all those who are otherwise, and in so doing blurs the decisive difference between being valuable in the sense of dignity and being valuable in the sense of usefulness."

We need to operate in such a way that preserves the dignity of all people, recognizing that regardless of age, social-economic status, or "success" level, they are intrinsically valuable. It is in the place of mutual respect and understanding for ones inherent value that we can spur one another on to a life of meaning.