The Call to Adventure

(PART I of II)

The call to adventure is the point in a person's life
when they are first given notice
that everything is going to change,
whether they know it or not.
– The Hero’s Journey, John Campbell

According to Campbell, a hero is any male or female who leaves the world of his or her everyday life to undergo a journey to a special world where challenges and fears are overcome in order to secure a reward (special knowledge, healing potion, etc.) which is then shared with other members of the hero’s community.

Everyone is bound to receive this call - the call for change. In movies and books, this is the part when the hero is invited to journey to the other side. Usually, the initial reaction is to refuse. In the beginning, Alice wanted to go back to her reality and leave the Wonderland. In Lord of the Rings, Frodo was reluctant to go on a quest to destroy the ring.

This call forces us to make a choice between two paths: the first leads to the familiar – what is manifested, the material, the seen – the second, leaps to the unknown – what is being, the spirit, the unseen.

After some soul searching and divine intervention, the hero eventually takes the call. He takes the path less traveled and this is where his adventure begins.

The Clan
In the beginning, I was sleep walking the first path with all the rest. Typical among Asians, my upbringing was very clannish. My immediate elders were my teachers and from them I learn how to be a human as a child. I copied their patterns and attracted their dramas and dreams. My childhood was a series of out of town trips, wedding banquets, annulments, town fiestas, and funerals. My obsession was to get good grades, I thought it made my family happy and love me more.

My first call to adventure was in high school when I left for Manila, leaving behind the security and protection of my suburban South. That marked me cutting off from the Clan. I remember being thirteen and scared of the thought of living in the city alone. But I was excited too, somehow I know if I don’t leave I will be living the same story as everyone else – a story I’ve seen so many times, I know the beginning, the middle, and the end.

The City
I grew up living the next decade of my life breathing the city. I walked its walk and talked its talk. I met people from all over and discovered so many things. I realize there are countless realities out there, so many things I don’t know. The world is huge with infinite layers and I’m just on the first peel.

Slowly, the Clan was replaced by the System. I joined the rat race and found myself in the 9 to 5 corporate wheel. I was having what everyone else was having, dreaming what everyone was dreaming. I notice that however fast I run, I am not going anywhere. For four years I was going in circles of paychecks and faces, hangovers and lovers, addiction and fears. The city gave me a prescription to happiness and I took it like a pill.

The city and all its aspirations started to feel like a bottomless hole. I wanted to break away from the cage of its material desires but I was scared of the unknown. Fortunately, the yearning within me was persistent, I started to break free. I don’t want to wear the high heels any more or the short dresses while dancing on someone else’s tune. I started to dream a different dream, visions of a simpler life. I longed for a world more in tuned with my inner nature, where time stops and I am free.

As I hold on to this vision, a different world unfolds before me. I found myself suddenly flooded with information reminding me of my real nature. A longing within me grow, try something different, live in a new place, meet different people, live a different life. The thirst for adventure filled me again. I was no longer satisfied with the comforts of the mundane, I want to conquer my fear of losing it all.

Cebu
I let go of the job and the comforts and craziness of the city and moved to Cebu to study filmmaking. The minute I made that change, it is as if the whole universe re-arranged itself and I changed with it.

It brought into me a different landscape, more quiet and serene. Everything and everyone takes more time so I learned to slow down my phase. I saw beauty in its simplicity. In the morning, I would hop on a jeepney, feel the air on my face and watch people’s faces in a backdrop of sunshine and fields. I started to see a different place, I saw a different face. As my environment changed, I adapted.

I journey inwards and I saw within me a world I didn’t know was there. I re-connected with my inner world and child. I found myself in places and company of people who are on the same inward route. I made new friends and found lost ones. Everyone has a story to tell, a wisdom to share. I realized that the trailblazers are my teachers, they who threaded the path earlier on, un-weeding the way for the next batch of seekers. I learned from them and their stories.

I started living more simply, less ego. I started to let go of the layers of image I maintained all those years. I realized my attachments to it was weighing me down, slowing my ascension.

I slowly let go. I became lighter and start to flow.

I realized the material world is an illusion I have to let go.

Now I know I am more than this human body. And the challenge is to wear this human skin surpassing all the human attachments and density that goes with it. I learn to observe patterns in my life again, remembering it’s just a game and I am here to play. I flow more as my fears go. I become a more conscious creator, all thoughts manifests as I am God.

For a year and a half , Cebu watched and nurtured my budding spirit. It was easy for me to change because there was nowhere and nobody around to remind me who I am, my past and my dreams. I learned how to be my inner child again, looking out to the world with wonder, living each moment with glee. I learned to love and let go, rise and fall, here and now.

The outside is really just a manifestation of the inside. For changes to happen, the first step is to change within. We are the center that propels it all. It starts as a tiny seed within, nurtured with light and love, it expands and manifests to the world.

Palawan
Six months ago, another island called for me. She has the face of a Goddess and it is as if the sprits themselves were making the call. I refused at first, I was complacent in Cebu, clinging into a relationship that was long overdue. I was scared of the unknown, but I was given a deadline and have to make a choice. It took me four weeks of reasoning and soul searching before I finally decided to trust in the wisdom of spirit. I took a leap to the unknown, moved to Palawan and lived with like-minded people. My housemate is a teacher and a friend I met when I was younger, one of the seekers who trail blazed my way….

to be continued