Hero's Journey

The wild and outdoors is such a special place to her and she speaks about how graceful it is and how she expects we all have stories like hers she’s explaining in this excerpt. She states in quotes, “Among the greatest of all gifts is to know our place.” (Barbara Kingsolver, 2002)

No matter in what perspective we see it, wilderness offers us a refuge that we can use to escape the cares and troubles of the world, in which our past has trapped us

What images come to mind as you reflect on your childhood? Playgrounds, blackboards, and soccer balls may be among the warmest of memories. Yet for many mermaids swim their thoughts, princesses get swept of their feet, and lions roar to their loyal place in the animal kingdom. There is no doubt that today’s entertainment has most of its touch using classical influences. Walt Disney has produced animated films that have captured the heart and imagination of audiences of all ages around the world through the magic of storytelling and imagery. Many of us appreciate the imagination and magic that Disney puts into its animations with out knowing they are based off of classical and traditional storylines

The night air was heavy with silence. Clouds drifted across a calm sky, and a full moon shone in the distance. In a small hut on the outskirts of the valley, an old man lay in bed, awake in the peaceful slumber of the village. His breaths came in rattling gasps, his forehead burned, and his joints felt stiff with pain. He shifted on the blankets, his withered hands clenched in fists as he tried to suppress the wave of bitter memories coming to him. His life had been nothing more than work, loss, tragedy. He remembered all of his hope, his ambition, in his youth, and he smiled bitterly. No one would remember him as the man that he had once hoped he would become. Now, as his breathing became heavier and he felt himself fading on the brink of

Wild is the story of Cheryl Strayed and her solo hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. During this 1,100 mile journey from the Mojave Desert to the Bridge of the Gods in Washington, she comes to terms with her mother’s death, and becomes her own person. Much of the book is devoted to instances that occurred before she began to hike the trail, including the disintegration of her family, her affairs and eventual divorce, and her heroin addiction. She decides to hike the Pacific Crest Trail almost immediately after her husband discovers her infidelity and divorces her, despite the fact that they still love each other. She discovers early on that she is unprepared to hike the trail and almost quits, but she meets many people along the way who are willing to teach her and inspire her to keep going. She suffers many injuries, but she continues on, and along the way she makes her peace with her mother’s death and lets go of her anger and grief. Strayed relies heavily on several rhetorical strategies, but most specifically she focuses on chronology,

Zeke and I has been together for a year and a half. Zeke and I met August 28, 1993 I was working at the mall at the time, in a man's clothing store; and he come in with his cousin Junior. I ask them if they needed help and Junior say yes, because his the one that was buying some clothes, so instead of me helping him I started talking to Zeke and didn't help Junior at all.

“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.”(Joseph Campbell). Joseph Campbell showed how important hero’s are by creating the Hero’s Journey and that you can be a hero just through writing and showing it through different characters. A hero shows that you can help other people to make the world better

My life has always been a series of transitional phases that was as every-changing as the seasons themselves. The words of my literary heroes were my utmost comfort; they inspired my confidence and my character, and moved me to be a more visceral, understanding person. I believe that during my time I have been wizened, and connected to the roots of all humanity; in my imagination I see it as the growth of a sampling into the dampness of the earth and the jaded formation of rough bark. Ralph Waldo Emerson, whose transcendental views have inspired me, was once quoted as saying, “Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.” I believe that is true, and with every choice I’m reminded of that hopeful and assertive message.

Dawn had risen with the Wylie’s castle on high alert, when a scout reported of seeing a rider wearing a Callaghan’s Kingsman uniform, traveling on a black stallion, heading in their direction.

Redemption on the PCT Wild, by Cheryl Strayed, is about Cheryl STrayed’s courageous journey to find herself amongst years of self-destruction. At 22 she was senior in college, along with her 45 year old mother Bobbi who had gone back to school in her later adulthood. At 22 Cheryl’s mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. At 22 Cheryl Strayed was motherless and headed to divorce.

Have you ever looked to the stars and wondered what was beyond? Looked at a forest and wondered what was within? Seen a nest and wondered what would emerge? Wild by Cheryl Strayed is a novel about her journey on the Pacific Coast Trail (PCT for short) and her drastic answer to these questions. Throughout the novel she faces many trials ranging from physical to spiritual.

Being alone on the trail for many miles allowed her to think, she was away from other human beings for days at a time and she was away from the stress of her life and this allowed her to change and grow. The landscapes around her allowed her to reminisce about old times, especially about her mom. There are many times when she's on the trail that she thinks about the memories with her mom, her mom’s horse named Lady, her stepfather Eddie, and her three siblings. For instance, she said, “It didn’t occur to me that my mother would die”(20).

When her mother got sick Cheryl took on the role to care for her family and keep them together and strong, unlike her other siblings she didn’t give up on being with her mom. On her first day of her hike Cheryl had thoughts in her head that she could turn back and give up, instead she ignored her thoughts and kept hiking on the trail. One of the most difficult times on the trail was when one of her hiking boots fell off a cliff, and in frustration she threw the other one down with it. With this event she didn’t have any shoes that were good enough for hiking the trail, instead she used her sandals and duct taped them to her feet until the long hike to lodge where she would get a new pair of boots. Cheryl stayed strong through all the hard times in her life, and being able to complete her hike on the Pacific Crest

Wild is an inspiring adaptation of Cherly Strayed’ 2012 memoir. The Legally Blond star Reese Witherspoon gives an outstandingly subtle, un-glamorous and venerable performance as the 26 years old author, who hikes 1,110 miles of Pacific Crest Trail from California to Oregon in the hope of finding reconciliation with herself and spiritual cleansing after a harsh decade of loss and personal meltdown. On Stayed’s impulsive journey alone, she carries impractical weight that includes her brand-new equipment, making it so heavy that she can’t even stand.

It has never been an uncommon thing for one to retreat to nature in an attempt to ‘find one’s self,’ and somewhat cliché these days is the retreat to nature to ‘find God.’ Hundreds of books, essays, seminars, and retreats devote themselves to helping one understand how to find enlightenment and healing through connecting with nature. It is a phenomenon that transcends religious boundaries—everyone, from Buddhists to Christian Mystics to Quakers, seems to think that the key (or, at least, one of the keys) to enlightenment lies in nature. As one may suppose, this is not a new concept. Throughout literary history, there is a distinct trend of authors praising the virtues of nature,