How Hero Stories Inspire Us. Hero stories are popular tales that endure the test of time and space. Each culture, no matter how unique, has its own hero stories. These hero stories have been passed down thousands of years through oral tradition or literature.
Hero stories are timeless because they are inspirational. But there are also psychological benefits hero stories provide. Hero stories instill important values of strength and hope. Their stories calm our fears, uplift our spirits, and restore our hopes.
Hero stories reinforce our connection to others. The content of hero stories promotes a strong sense of social identity because the hero or heroism typically accomplishes a feat that exemplifies and affirms the community’s most cherished values.
Hero stories show us how to transform our lives. In hero stories, the hero undergoes a personal transformation during his journey. He sets out lacking an important quality. To succeed, the hero must recover or discover this quality – usually by overcoming an obstacle and achieving personal transformation.
Hero stories inspire us to live out our own hero stories. In classic hero stories, the protagonist transforms himself and society in positive ways. Psychologist Eric Erikson’s stages of human development suggest a hero trajectory for us all – adults grow in significant ways and then reach a stage where they give back to society.
At the Sanctuary, we believe hero stories exist for each of us. Addiction is an obstacle to overcome in order to achieve radical personal transformation. Doing so enables us to discover the strength we never knew we had.
To learn more about how you can forge your hero story, overcome any obstacle, and achieve Radical Transformation, read about our program at the Sanctuary at Sedona.
He is the Founder, Administrator, Counselor at the Sanctuary at Sedona. He has a BA in Political Science and is currently Senior teaching staff at Four Winds Society, an international school of energy medicine. His credentials also include being an Ordained Minister; a Certified Shamanic Breathwork® Facilitator; a Founding Member Society for Shamanic Practitioners; a Member of Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology; a Member of the National Institute for Holistic Addiction Studies. [email protected]