About the book
Joseph Campbell's study of comparative mythology argues that myths around the world often share one basic structure, which he calls the monomyth or the hero's adventure. A hero leaves the ordinary world on a call to adventure, crosses a guarded threshold with a mentor's help, faces a road of trials and a supreme ordeal, and comes home with a boon for others. Campbell groups these stages under Departure, Initiation and Return, and draws on figures such as Osiris, Prometheus, the Buddha, Moses and Jesus, along with ideas from Freud, Jung and Arnold van Gennep. Filmmaker George Lucas credited the theory as an influence on Star Wars.
Ray Dalio named it as a book he would give every graduating senior, calling it a little dense but very rich. Bryan Callen credited Campbell with first opening his eyes to the compassionate side of life.
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This book has 3 recommendations
Bryan Callen (Co-Host/The Fighter and the Kid)
Joseph Campbell was the first person to really open my eyes to [the] compassionate side of life, or of thought... Campbell was the guy who really kind of put it all together for me, and not in a way I could put my finger on... It made you just glad to be alive, [realizing] how vast this world is, and how similar and how different we are.
Ray Dalio (Founder/Bridgewater Associates)
The book I’d give [every graduating senior in college or high school] would be [...] Joseph Campbell’s 'Hero of a Thousand Faces'. It's little bit dense but it’s so rich, so it’s a good one.
Catherine Plano (Executive Coach)
Was mind blowing, it really helped me put into perspective, that there are cycles and rhythms, and I now call them initiations, when you are faced with fear we are never too sure of our potential unless we know how to fail, what did we learn from it and what are we going to do differently the next time. There is a lesson in everything we experience, as long as we slow down enough to reflect. The other thing in the hero's journey is that even when you say 'yes' to a project, it really doesn't mean that you are going to succeed at it, but if you go into a project with an open mind and embrace that you are here to learn, the journey itself is rewarding, not always the outcome and when we really look at our failures, they weren't real failures after all, but a stepping stone onto something greater.
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Bryan Callen, Ray Dalio, Catherine Plano