Tucked neatly and claustrophobically inside the narrow cubicle of an emergency helicopter, wired to monitors and having oxygen tubes running out of the nose is something out of the TV show, M*A*S*H*. It was the day that changed my whole life. The day I stood on the precipice at the edge of darkness, hoping to slay the dragon — but I wasn’t alone. I was surrounded by everyday heroes. Doctors, nurses, air medics, a helicopter pilot, and a surgeon, all who guided me through the critical situation and saved me. To them, it’s an every day occurrence, however, for me it was a new beginning — and a wake up call.

Here is where I need to stop, look around, and start making major changes. Realizing that we are mortal beings does something to your psyche. I knew that I was burning the candle at both ends, but I had always been in great health and never would have imagined that this could happen to me. It made me realize, too, that life is short and I need to make the most of it. 

According to Joseph Campbell, from his book “The Hero With a Thousand Faces,” this would mark the beginning of (in my case) the heroine’s journey. Something that Joseph Campbell calls a monomyth. The cycle that heroes follow in most mythological stories from the call to adventure, through trials and dire circumstances — returning triumphant.

Joseph Campbell, author and professor of comparative mythology and religion, writes “We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come.” He coined the phrase “follow your bliss.” He believed the heroic life is all about living the individual adventure. The call to the life you truly long for. However, “There is no security in following the call to adventure.” He states. By taking that leap of faith you delve into the unknown, but, he adds, “nothing is exciting if you know what the outcome is going to be and to refuse the call is stagnation. What you don’t experience positively, you will experience negatively.”

The first stage of the mythological journey, “the call to adventure,” signifies that destiny has summoned the hero and transferred his/her spiritual center of gravity to a zone unknown. This fateful region of both treasure and danger may have various representations: as a distant land, a forest, a kingdom underground, beneath the waves, or above the sky, a secret island, lofty mountaintop or a profound dream state. 

You have to have the courage to begin. “You enter the forest at the darkest point, where there is no path.” Writes Campbell, “Where there is a way or path, it is someone else’s path. You are not on your own path. If you follow someone else’s path you are not going to realize your potential.” But you don’t have to do it alone. If what you are following is your own true adventure, if it is something true to your own spiritual need or readiness, then magical guides will appear to help you. If you are ready then “doors will open where there were no doors before, and where there would not be doors for anyone else.”

Campbell says that when you cross the threshold, you are “passing into a dark forest, taking a plunge into the sea embarking upon the night sea journey. It involves passing through clashing rocks, narrow gates. There will be moments when the walls of the world seem to open for a second, and you get an insight of the other side.” This is when Campbell says you have to “jump! Go! The gates will often close so fast that they take off the tail of your horse!” You may lose everything you have but there will be aids to help. There will be increasing difficult trials as well and you will have to give up more and more of what you were hanging on to.

Advice given to a young Native American at the time of his initiation:

“As you go the way of your life, you will see a great chasm. Jump. It is not as wide as you think.”

Refusing the call to adventure, could cause stagnation. It converts the adventure into its negative. Boredom, hard work, loss of power over significant affirmative action and the hero turns into a victim to be saved. Life seems meaningless. 

“It’s by going down the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure. The very cave you are afraid to enter turns out to be the source of what you are looking for.” It’s the road of trials — a series of tests to begin transformation. The hero may fail some tests, which in mythology happens in threes, but eventually these trials are overcome and the hero can move on to the next step. It is during the trials, though, that mythology creates its greatest adventures — in story. Here the hero is aided by amulets or supernatural helpers. He discovers that there is a benign power everywhere supporting him. It’s a long and perilous path of initiatory conquests and moments of illumination. Dragons have to be slain and surprising barriers to be passed.”

But, the purpose of the journey is compassion to experience transformation and then the goal is to bring this jewel back to the world.”It’s all about finding that still point in your mind where commitment drops away.” When the hero-quest has been accomplished, the adventurer still needs to return with his life-changing trophy. This mastery brings with it freedom from fear of death, which in turn is the freedom to live, neither anticipating the future nor regretting the past.

“The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.” — Joseph Campbell

I realize now that if you don’t pay attention to the things that are negative in your life, they will be the things that push you over the threshold. I am ready for the journey, the call to adventure to create my new path, and before long, I will be ready, once again, to enjoy life where I truly find my bliss, among the tall trees and rocky paths of the mountains. 

Thanks to the Emergency room staff at Summit Healthcare, the medics and pilot for my helicopter ride, My nurses in ICU at Banner Desert: Bethany, Tony and Andrea, Dr. Ly, cardiologist, and Lu, nurse practitioner. Also, I am truly blessed to have the friends and family that made all the difference in my recovery.

“He who speaks does not know. He who knows, does not speak.” — Lao Tzu