The hero begins their journey in the ordinary world. But one day, they hear the call to adventure, beckoning them to set out into the extraordinary world to face calamity and achieve greatness.
The antihero begins in the extraordinary world, striving for greatness, exhausted and lost. But one day, they hear the call to peace, beckoning them to put down their weapons, to put down their ambitions, to put down their need to go it alone and save the world, so they can finally restore that aliveness they lost long ago.
The call to adventure asks the hero to be courageous, to push themselves farther than they thought possible.
The call to peace asks something harder: to slow down, to practice restraint, to allow themselves to be more insignificant than their egos would ever allow.
This is an excerpt from my upcoming book The Antihero’s Journey: From Burnout to Real Contribution in Polycrisis Times. To read other excerpts, go here.
