Hello!
Welcome back to The Heroes Journey! My ‘blog’…? Not really a blog anymore.
A lot has changed.
19 months have passed since I published the introduction to ‘The Heroes Journey’. It was on the 21st of March 2018 that I completed that piece of writing and clicked ‘publish’ with trembling fingers. That was shortly after settling into Dunedin following the New Zealand Sheep tour.
I could never have anticipated what the blog would become, how it would evolve, and what I would learn from it. I had a vision for it, which was to write about some interesting experiences from my own life journey as a way to discuss this concept of ‘The Heroes Journey’. What I didn’t expect was to end up genuinely writing and telling my whole life story from the moment I left home on my adventure to Queenstown in 2016. I tried my hardest to make it at least half interesting, not a bore, and not too extensive or detailed.
…52 stories later…
Yeah… I apologise about that. That’s a lot! It’s not really a blog anymore. This here is my memoir! I’m just glad I’m writing it now while the memories are still ripe. I heard that my grandpa is starting to work on his memoir now. I’m only 22 years old and it took me 52 stories to write through just 3 years of my life story. Grandpa David is 84. I can’t even imagine…
But why? Why am I going to such lengths to write my life story? Who even cares? I often ask myself these questions; it’s so easy to forget the bigger picture. But I will say this right now: Writing this has been the single most profound project of my whole life. It is and forever will be my ultimate project as an artist and as a person. As for the reasons why, I will gradually divulge them as I continue with the story. For the sake of bringing up this topic though, I may as well mention one big reason why I write so extensively.
Practice! This is how I am practicing the craft of writing and story-telling.
Chapter 3: The Prophecy and the Pilgrimage was a huge challenge for me. It was the story of quite a major chapter of my life journey, as it involved the culmination of my childhood passions, my auspicious move to Dunedin, and the discovery of Falun Dafa all through a light-hearted band tour across New Zealand. So I really wanted to tell the story in the best way that I could. What was particularly challenging about it was writing the characters - Tommy, Toby, Ethan, Fish, Mouse, and of course, lest we forget, the Emerald Wagon. Portraying my friends accurately and doing them justice as people was damn near impossible. I tried to capture Tommy’s stage-presence and mojo with words as best I could, but fell hopelessly short. Some things are intangible, and simply indescribable. But I tried, and it served as tremendous practice for my writing!
As far as my writing goes, this blog is only just the beginning. I am yet to start writing Epic Fantasy novels! You know, those huge, beefy books telling the epic tales of heroes and dragons, magic, and all that good stuff? And so my blog here is not only the medium through which I practice towards that goal, but it is also telling the story of how I get there.
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If you have been following my blog for some time, you may have noticed that I have these interludes between the Chapters. It offers me a chance to take a step back from the story and just discuss various things in a casual manner, and so I will always include them.
Of course, I wanted to thank everybody who has taken the time to read my story in its entirety or a few selected passages. I understand they can be quite long. Moreover, it is such a personal thing I am doing here, and it has been extremely difficult to come to terms with the fact that I have made my life an open book. But I am 3 Chapters and 52 stories in now - I am committed. I cannot turn back. I can only continue to charge forward.
And so, with all that said, I can now start writing Chapter 4! The story of my own short-sighted foolishness, disguised as a ‘really good idea!’
Have a blessed summer, and I'll see you on the other side!
Josh
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