Being Heroine of Your Own Journey

by Laura Grace - 

Currently, I am involved in a feminine empowerment program. It is a program I chose for the continuation of my spiritual, soulful and emotional evolution.

Although the course is founded in wise feminine leadership principles, the curriculum is challenging me to seriously ponder the true meaning of what American journalist and playwright, Nora Ephron, once declared: 

“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.”

It’s clear what it means to take 100% responsibility for our lives but what exactly does it mean to be the heroine of our own lives?

Most of us are familiar with Joseph Campbell’s teaching of the “hero’s journey.”  Like the main character in the film “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” the hero ventures forth from the world of common life into a region of supernatural wonder.

There he encounters fabulous forces and a decisive victory is won. The hero returns from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.

Although I have always been fascinated by the hero’s journey, I often felt something was missing. That “something” was revealed to me in 2012 when I invited Dr. Jean Houston to be the keynote speaker at the Central Coast Annual Women’s Symposium. 

While giving an impassioned speech based on her book The Wizard of Us, she asserted,

“By the way, the heroine’s journey is very different than the hero’s journey.” 

Now that caught my attention. For as much as we have sometimes tried to emulate men, we women are very different.

In fact, neurobiology reveals that women’s brains are hard-wired in a uniquely different manner.

Dr. Daniel Amen, who’s written over 30 books including Unleash the Power of the Female Brain (2013), shows that women’s brains are very active; the amount of blood flowing into our frontal lobes hard-wire us for collaboration, appropriate worry, intuition, self-restraint and good judgment.

Most importantly, we intuitively know when something is wrong and are willing to shift gears before the Titanic hits the iceberg and sinks.

This isn’t about whether a feminine approach to life is better than a masculine one; we need a balance of both energies in order to thrive.

The heroine’s journey does differ greatly from the hero’s journey. And one of the greatest variances is how we choose to travel.

Unlike the hero who strikes out on a solo passage to conquer his demons, women recognize that stepping into their feminine power requires aligning with a collective field of support. 

Many of us have been trying to do “life” on our own which can only take us so far. 

How many times have we felt alone in trying to share our gifts with the world, overwhelmed, or unsupported by life?

In order to shatter our inner glass ceilings—the limiting beliefs and behaviors that sabotage our success—we need to activate a new culture of empowerment which necessitates a shift into a collective quantum field.

It’s a known fact that geese fly 75% farther and faster when they are flying together. Solo passages cannot carry us the distance. When we are soaring as a self-actualized woman, we must activate a field of unprecedented support. 

This is, perhaps, the most essential part of the heroine’s journey.

We begin to create a unified field when we affirm:

• I AM ALLOWING LIFE TO SUPPORT ME ON MY JOURNEY. THIS INCLUDES ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE OPEN TO RECEIVING THE GIFTS I DESIRE TO CONTRIBUTE.

• I AM FULLY PRESENT IN HOLDING THE SPACE FOR OTHERS TO EVOLVE AND TRANSFORM.

• I AM LETTING GO OF OLD STORIES OF REGRET, SETBACKS AND DISAPPOINTMENT AND CHANNELING MY ATTENTION, INTENTION AND ENERGIES ON WHAT IS AVAILABLE FOR ME TODAY.

I invite you to step into your own heroine’s journey by bonding with others inside your identity as a powerful and resourceful woman. 

May we join together in support of our highest potential for loving relationships, physical health, emotional well-being, financial abundance, creativity and friendship.

May we birth the seeds of our potential forward as we journey together and answer the call to our souls’ deepest purpose.

lauragrace.net