A couple nights ago, me and hubby watched the documentary "Finding Joe" directed and produced by Patrick Takaya Solomon.
BEST
DOCUMENTARY
EVER!
About the Film
"Finding Joe" is an exploration of famed Mythologist Joseph Campbell’s studies and their continuing impact on our culture. Through interviews with visionaries from a variety of fields interwoven with enactments of classic tales by a sweet and motley group of kids, the film navigates the stages of what Campbell dubbed The Hero’s Journey: the challenges, the fears, the dragons, the battles, and the return home as a changed person. Rooted in deeply personal accounts and timeless stories, Finding Joe shows how Campbell’s work is relevant and essential in today’s world and how it provides a narrative for how to live a fully realized life – or as Campbell would simply state, how to “follow your bliss”.
Featuring: Deepak Chopra, Mick Fleetwood, Rashida Jones, Tony Hawk, Catherine Hardwicke, Laird Hamilton, Robert Walter, Akiva Goldsman, Sir Ken Robinson, Robin Sharma, Lynne Kaufman, Alan Cohen, Brian Johnson, Joseph Marshall III, Rebecca Armstrong, Chungliang Al Huang, David L. Miller, Gay Hendricks, David Loy and Norman Ollestad.
One speaker after the next all with gems of wisdom. The first portion was a little odd, simple, maybe even mismatched in some regards, but the rest and the overall film has a great message.
It resonates with me because of my own journey. I grew up in within an amazing family. Parents that worked hard, loved us a ton; very kind and generous people who gave us every opportunity. My siblings were so ridiculously intelligent, talented, gorgeous and confident. They were science-minded. Then there was me. Perhaps self-proclaimed, I was the "black sheep" of the family. I did not find the sciences intriguing at all and my grades reflected it. Anything other than an "A" felt like failure. I was scrawny, with a permed mullet and big mouth. I felt like I just didn't measure up.
What you are immersed in usually becomes your normal. So after almost two decades, I just assumed I was meant to go to college and do sciences. But little cracks broke through, one by one. One revelation at a time. I found myself drawn to writing, to fighting, to going inward. But I only allowed myself to dabble in those interests minimally. It was there that I question whether that was expected, or if it was self-imposed.
It was between first and second year of college that I went from the Sciences, to the Arts. Then halfway through the year, I ended up fighting in the Canadian Nationals for Judo. It was the tip of the iceburg. Me and a friend, after the Nationals (which I didn't make huge wins at), spoke about going to Japan together. He would meet up with his sweetheart and find work. I would train in Judo. Things fell in line reeeeally easily for that and four or five months later I was in Japan fighting! I earned my black belt, broke my ankle, did a number on both of my shoulders and ended up returning home. Going overseas and fighting was a huge leap, with too much support to come home without whatever may have embodied success. That took a lot to get past emotionally. I have realized in the years following, especially in my career now, that the success was in just going, in just fighting, in just stretching myself. I coudn't learn that at the time because my ego was absolutely flailing to survive. Damn egos. That time there, "stretching" myself countless times a day, made me stronger than anything else could have. Life was just telling me I just wasn't meant to be that 'throw-down judo queen'. "oh darn" - ha ha!
I think because I felt I didn't succeed there, I thought the best thing to do when I returned would be to step back in line with what was expected and finally fulfill what I thought was right. I went to school, studied Marketing - it wasn't the Sciences, but at least it wasn't the ARTS! I did well there, and was hired fresh out of school in to a very good job. The following year, my job was to move across the country and a big decision came. Something didn't feel right. So I declined on the job. I decided I'd pursue law school and began to study towards it. I spoke with peers who were lawyers and then something came knocking at my door.
A door to performance art opened. It rocked me to my core, and I felt like I had woken up. It allowed me to be everything I loved as a child, it helped me live in the moment, get through living under expectations and taught me how to deal with fears, and I was pretty good at it. I was able to pick things up pretty quickly and one job turned in to the next. Every day I worked was a fantastic challenge. I would do "the happy dance"when I'd get a call for work. It was amazing... but how solid a future would this be?
I continued to study and take courses. But I found myself separating. Separating from those I felt had expectations/judgements of me and what I should be doing. I needed to listen to my own voice at that point. I separated from school, from the dreams I had begun to lay down. This is over twelve years ago, but I remember asking myself if my choice would be: having a career of prestige and financial security, or if I wanted to be happy and probably not make much money and definitely not have prestige. I chose the later...
It was a really challenging time. People close to me would sound kind of excited about what I was doing, but kind of have that look of "she won't make it", or "really, you want to do that?!". I was asked "what will you really be doing in five years?" People I'd known a lifetime said it was completely out of my character to do what I was doing. I was shy as a kid, pretty quiet and chill - except when I was expressing through play, being a huge tomboy. My jobs were all about performance, action, dynamic situations. In the end, I figure maybe they didn't really know me, because I hadn't known myself all those years.
Over thirteen years later, I am still performing. I succeeded and surpassed all hopes I had in my career, got to do some amazing things with really amazing people. I have been more financially independent than I ever would have been as a lawyer. I met and married my husband, and was more fulfilled than I ever would have thought possible. I still do "the happy dance" when I get the calls for work.
The thing "Finding Joe" highlighted for me at this point in my life is the Hero's Journey isn't just one big lesson per lifetime. When I had my daughter, my career was put on the back-burner. I was ready to shift my life to become a mother, but at the same time, all I had worked for fell behind me, including my social circle (work buddies). I didn't deal with the transition very well. My journey as a mother, though it has been the deepest, most loving and growth-provoking journey, was also spent, in large part, battling myself. Now, though I still have a passion for the performance aspect of things, I get that I am on another journey - a couple actually. If you get hung up when one journey comes full-circle and you don't use the strength of that one to conquer the rest of the journeys, life can get pretty frustrating and inefficient.
The past couple of months especially, have been my "sledgehammer". "Finding Joe" grabbed me by the lapels and made me realize that I am not meant to be fighting dragons out there on whichever journey I was on. I am meant to be embracing the journey I am on, and chasing my bliss over, and over, and over.
How's your hero's journey? I LOVE hearing people's journeys. One of my favourite things.
This documentary is now available for order on DVD, or on iTunes.
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