How Do You Have To Change Your Life To Be Your Authentic Self?

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The hero journey is not really about how you have to change your life so that you become something you never were before. It is about becoming who you truly are.

In Joe Versus The Volcano, the hero in Joe—Joe’s authentic self—had gone into hiding because Joe was afraid.

How Joe Became Afraid

We find out in the session with Dr. Ellison that Joe had worked in the fire department. He left the fire department because he didn’t feel good. Dr. Ellison diagnoses Joe’s problem this way.

Dr. Ellison: “My guess is that your experiences in the fire department were extremely traumatic. You experienced the imminent possibility of death several times?”

Joe: “Yeah.”

Dr. Ellison: “The cumulative anxiety with those brushes with death left you habitually fearful about your physical person.”

This little scene tells us two facts about Joe. He used to be a fireman. We also know that he got really scared.

Trying To Find The Hero

After Joe quits his job, he gets a visit from Mr. Granamore. Mr. Granamore peers into Joe’s eyes and says:

Mr. Granamore: “I’m trying to find the hero in there.”

Joe: “What do you mean?”

Mr. Granamore: “You dragged two kids down a six story burning staircase. Now that’s brave. Then you went back for the third kid. That was heroic. Come on now. You’re a hero.”

Joe: “Well, that was a long time ago.”

Mr. Granamore: “Yes, it was.”

And this is the real truth about Joe before he started to feel bad all the time. He had been a hero, a long time ago, before he became afraid.

Why did Mr. Granamore choose Joe for his business proposition? He was looking for a hero. He needed someone willing to jump into a volcano to save the Waponis from the angry fire god in the volcano. Who would be better than a man who had a history of jumping into burning burnings to save people?

Why Would I Jump Into A Volcano?

Mr. Granamore, for his own selfish purposes, is appealing to Joe to again become the hero Joe was before he became afraid. The hero in Joe hadn’t really gone away. He had gone into hiding in the bowels of a dismal factory—a factory that is the “Home of the Rectal Probe,” by the way.

If Mr. Granamore is going to get the boobaroo for his superconductors, he has to sell Joe on the idea of jumping into a volcano.

Joe asks an obvious question. “Why would I jump into a volcano?”

In an inspired sales pitch, Mr. Granamore gives Joe a renewed vision of his authentic self. He answers Joe’s question by appealing to Joe’s sense of his true self, the self that has been hiding in the depths of the dismal factory and his dingy apartment.

“Because of your exploits in the fire department, I think you’ve got the courage. All I know is that when you’re making those calls you’re up in the high country. From your doctor you know you’re on your way out anyway.You haven’t got any money. I checked.”

“Do you want to wait it out here in this apartment? Sounds kinda grim to me. Not the way I’d want to go. I tell you that. Live like a king, die like a man. That’s what I say. Waddya say?”

Joe answers simply, “All right, I’ll do it.”

Is There More To The Story Than Doing What You Are Afraid To Do?

From one perspective, Joe Versus The Volcano is a story about the need to do what you are most afraid to do. About summoning up your courage and taking leaps of faith. What could be a better symbol of doing what you fear than choosing to jump into a volcano?

This is the most obvious conclusion, but there is something even more significant going on in this story than simply telling you to do the thing you are most of afraid of doing.

In this story, Joe is not really afraid to jump. Joe has a history of courage and a history of leaping into burning buildings to save people. After Joe makes his decision to go to Waponi Woo, to die a hero, he never backs down from the decision.

Joe is resolute, even when he falls in love with Patricia. He will die as the hero that he was before he became afraid.

Becoming Your Authentic Self

And this is the most essential truth about Joe Versus The Volcano. The hero’s journey is not about changing yourself into someone you aren’t, but becoming who you truly are—your authentic self.

For Your Success,

Kalinda

Dr. Kalinda Rose Stevenson

The Story Transformer

Creator of “The Story Transformation Process”

[Cross-Published on NoMoneyLimits.com]

This is the fifth post in a 5-Part series.