Are the Law of Attraction and Hero’s Journey related?
It would probably be quite beneficial to write a few posts on where I am with my thoughts on spiritual practice. I would like to think that these ideas, like any other, will develop over time, and this way I can document the development. Lately, I’ve been contemplating the possible crossover of the Law of Attraction and the Hero’s Journey.
For those that aren’t familiar, the Law of Attraction (LOA) promotes the belief that your thoughts determine your reality; that on a quantum level; everything is just energy; and that by adjusting our thoughts we create what we focus our attention on. The concept probably is best known from the book/documentary called “The Secret”. Unfortunately, they don’t explain the process properly, which will undoubtedly leave people feeling more frustrated than they would having never come across it.
“The law of attraction states that whatever you focus on, think about, read about, and talk about intensely, you’re going to attract more of into your life.” – Jack Canfield
My understanding is that to manifest your dreams through the LOA, you must either get yourself into a state of feeling good through meditation or begin as soon as you wake up each morning. Vividly visualise in your mind what it is you desire, imagining how it would feel as if it has already happened, not “I want to lose weight” but “I am fit and healthy”, feeling how good it feels to feel happy, strong, and healthy. If you want to learn more I suggest looking into Deepak Chopra, Bruce Lipton, Gregg Braden, or Abraham Hicks, all of which can be found on Youtube.
“All life is vibration and can be materialised, changed and dematerialised through manipulation of the thought-forms that bring it into being” – Tracy Elner
The “Hero’s Journey” is frequently portrayed in fables. The term was coined by Joseph Campbell and speaks to the idea of an individual following their intuition, usually against social conditioning and the advice of others, overcoming adversity in order to find their “treasure” or “gift”. Their “treasure” being a special talent that only they hold which brings them joy and be used to change the world.
“The great challenges of life appear to us when, and only when, we have everything we need to survive and heal from the experience.” – Gregg Braden
I believe the two are related, Without finding your gift, no matter what you manifest, it will not bring lasting fulfilment. As Jim Carrie once said, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer”. That’s where my belief in the misunderstanding of the LOA comes in. Don’t get me wrong, I love to have money and be healthy because it allows me to do the things I love, but I don’t believe that it can bring real fulfilment.
What I have been discovering in recent years is that I find the most joy in using the money I have to chase those sparks in my intuition, like going on adventures. I find that every time I do I am rewarded in some way.
Most recently I took another leap and quit my job to travel for a month; A trip I’d wanted to do for years but continually made excuses to avoid doing. When I returned I took a lease on a room on the other side of London, away from most of my friends, which cost twice what I was previously paying. On paper, it seemed idiotic but my intuition told me it was the right thing to do. A week after moving in I got a call from the recruiter and she said “I know this role isn’t what you usually do but would you like to have a go?” to which I replied, “Yeah, fuck it, why not” (in retrospect I probably could have articulated myself a little better). It turned out to be a great job, with good perks, not far from my new home (rare in London), and now, amidst COVID I am being paid in full with minimal work to do each week, essentially paying me to do as I please. Right now, on top of all the value I got from the trip, that seems like a pretty good reward for stepping out and following my intuition.
My point is, that ever since I first heard of the LOA I had been trying to manifest a better life for myself, but nothing was really changing. I wasn’t changing anything. I was ignoring my intuition in the hope that a little more money would make my life better. As Einstein once said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result”. I’m not saying all this travel and following my intuition has made me anymore financially abundant, but it has always given me something which little by little has impacted my life.
“One can’t buy a ticket to paradise. You have to find it within yourself.” – Thor Heyerdahl
When I was younger I wanted to wear suits and drive nice cars, and I think now I still would love those things, but there is more of a focus for me to share wisdom and use the law of attraction to explore my own “hero’s journey”. I get so much joy from having free time to go for walks, read, and expand my understanding of what is it to be human and the world around us, and hope that one day I’ll be able to share that knowledge with others.
Now that I have this all written out I can see that Paulo Coelho said it all best in my favourite book, ‘The Alchemist’. The lead character used his skills to create wealth, which he then used to follow his intuition to venture further on his “hero’s journey”, repeating the process, whilst learning new skills, and developing as a person until eventually, he found his own treasure.
“When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” – Paulo Coelho
The hero’s journey helps us to define what it is that we really want, and what we wish to manifest in our lives. It illuminates the things which are truly important to us. It’s easy to say “I want to manifest a Ferrari”, but does imagining yourself in that car genuinely bring you the joy or fulfilment you desire? Maybe it does, which is amazing, but for me, not so much. The combination of the hero’s journey and LOA enables us to manifest what truly holds lasting fulfilment, not what society dictates we place importance in.
“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” – Paulo Coelho
“To have passion, to have a dream, to have a purpose in life. And there are three components to that purpose, one is to find out who you really are, to discover God, the second is to serve other human beings, because we are here to do that and the third is to express your unique talents and when you are expressing your unique talents you lose track of time.” – Deepak Chopra
