The Myth of the Birth of Hero Psychology
I do not recall if I ever mentioned it before on this blog, but I have been meaning to reintroduce and re-explore in essay and personal narrative form, my old idea I called Hero Psychology. It has been something that has stayed with me and always informed me in ways as well.
So what is Hero Psychology? Well, what it is not is a psychological analysis of heroism. Although there is a psychological compoenent to it.
It's an amalgamation, really, of psychology, mythology, literature, and story that I used as a model to explain life transitions. And there are, it seems to me, many life transiosn--more than the eight Erikson focused on. Perhaps this is a more contemporary development? A continual series of major life transition. Or perhaps Erikson was trying to look at these transitions through a unversal lens, if one can be said to exist.
In any case. while Erisksonian theory was a foundational peice of my model, there were more as well. Marcia, who buidle upon Eriskon to look at how we move through the life stages. And then Joseph Campbell's monomoth, which explored how myths describe the psychological process of navigating the inevitable life crisis.
A couple more psychologicl modesl were involved, but those three were at the core.
And I called it Hero Psychology.
As a younger person, identity and particularly identity transitions, maybe becasue I struggled with them very badly as a very yound adult, was a big interest to me. This transition continues to be an interest to me to this day. But in different ways. Life transiton have a tremendous power to really shape our perceptions of ourslves and, thus, the world,,,and so, in fact, shape the world.
What I was really seaching for then was a way to explain the self in a more broad way. I felt the psychology of science, and social sciences in general, could only take me so far. And I was also searching for what connecting the self and society. To me, there seemed to be a missing link between how the two influenced eachother. And I was not happy with the soley social science explanation, although anthropology and sociology really helped me to see an bigger picture than psychology, particultly the role of culture and self.
I was at the same type stuying and teaching writing and reading a lot of literary and rehtorical theory. Narrative and methaphor seemed supremely important.. But again, I could not see how all the peices fit. And neither dsiciplined seemed to be interested in exploring this connection.
I was, however, already primed by Joseph Campbell, who I discovered prior to my studies. Who, I retrospectively realize, was, ironically, a big part of my intelluectual call to adventure.
And when I returned to his work, I felt the missing link was there--mythology. Or more broader thinking, story.
The link bewteen self and society is story. And so I began peicing together my theory. It was good. I presented on it. People were interested, but other things in life came up.
But the call is calling to me again. In more ways than one. Writing. New love. Intecual curiossity. My work with students. My sons getting older and on the bring of their own life transitions. Poltics...crazy, crazy politics. And more.
I continue to use my old theory to help me make sense of things. And I would like to use this blog to further develop the theory, rediscover the theory, make it better, and apply it more practically.
Can there be a practive of Hero Pychology? I think it can.
Can I be the first Hero Psychologist?
Since Robopsychologist never really took for me, maybe Hero Psychology can be the next best thing.
I joke...but there is also a truth behind the joke. (And, of course, the joke is probably only funny to me.)