This is another way of understanding your personal genius and it is also an entertaining personal exercise.
It's partly based on Carl Jung's idea that we each of us - from a very early age - create our own personal myth. We are attracted to stories, situations and people that help us to make sense of who we are and where we are going.
The heroes we identify with can tell us a lot about ourselves:
- Our gifts and strengths
- Our (perceived) weaknesses
- What we feel called upon to achieve
- The challenges we face
- How we deal with adversity
- Our characteristic approach to other people
- What we rebel against
- How we see life
The myth you create goes a long way towards forming your ego, or your self-image. For example: helper, artist, victim, conqueror, martyr, saviour, survivor, loner or leader.
Here's one way to identify your personal myth:
First identify your favourite childhood story. This could be a film, a book, a fairy story or something else.
Now answer these questions about your story:
- What is this story about?
- What is the moral of the story?
- What are the hero's best qualities?
- Weaknesses she has to struggle against?
- What is his dominant passion?
- What is she here to achieve?
- What does she have to overcome?
- What/who are his enemies?
- How does she relate to people?
- What are his most important values?
- How does she see life?
- What might his epitaph be?
For those of you who are interested my own favourite story - from age 7 onwards - was Pinocchio.
Please share any insights you got from doing this with me - john@reverse-therapy.com
Happy hunting!
Image by nyki_m's
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