Is this some kind of ‘group therapy’ or ‘sensitivity training?’ I am not into the touchy feely stuff. No. Story Circle groups consist of 5 – 12 members. To insure maximum comfort, bring your own best friend or life-partner or someone else you would like to bond with over a series of substantive conversations. Consider recruiting your own Story Circle group. Story Circle conversations are not free-for-all "bull sessions" but rather guided interactions over material and art-forms focusing upon a specific profound curriculum topic. The task of a Story Cirle group is to illuminate the depth of a specific material in the everyday life examples of each participant seated around the circle.
Is this some kind of cult or denomination or other wacko group? Joseph Campbell has invited us into the awareness that we live in The Time Between the Myths. The old shared stories no longer resonate to connect us with the deepest currents of our own lives. A new shared story has not arrived. This ‘Time Between’ is our moment. More than any other single truth it defines our lives. Interior Mythos Journeys is an effort to bring awareness to what we mean by ‘reality’ in such a time between and to illuminate the relevant postures and practices that can contribute to the living of a full and significant experience of life. All profound traditions of the East and the West were begun by a contemplative; someone who chose to be present to their own deepest experience of life and to learn and grow from that encounter. Our time between is a call to all of us to reconnect with our contemplative depth.
What is this really about? What are you promoting? Joseph Campbell and Karl Jung have both raised the question, "What is the myth that is managing your life?" Most of us are not very conscious about the internal "myth" or story that is the source of every thought we think, every emotion we allow to drive us, every relationship and every encounter that is the stuff of our lives. This journey is about "applied contemporary mythology;" more accurately learning to choose and practice our most personal contemporary interior mythology. If you think mythology was something that happened in ancient Greece, think again. Stories are the foundation and containers of human consciousness. The Greeks didn’t hold a candle to Hollywood. The movie is the art form of the 20th and 21st Century. Our lives are transformed when we consciously connect with and create the mythos or stories that are forming our life experience. The intent of this journey is to sell you on choosing a conscious relationship to your life experience today and to share some clues as to how to do that.
I am not comfortable with a voluntary and undefined financial requirement. What’s up? Interior Mythos Journeys is a money-losing venture and is designed to always be such. Interior Mythos Journeys, Inc. is a 501C not-for-profit corporation and is recognized as such by the IRS. It is a gift to any who would choose to receive it. However, we all live in the real world and this program, like any other, has costs. A non-intrusive, strictly volunteer opportunity is provided at all programs sponsored by Interior Mythos Journeys for financial contribution. 100% of all contributions are donated to sponsoring not-for-profit organizations. Any individual can attend an Interior Mythos Journeys program regardless of their ability to pay.
Is this material and program appropriate for my teenage child or a Story Circle of his/her friends? If your teenager or young college student is actively raising the question of "What's it all about?" or beginning to wonder if the meaning of life is to be found in centering oneself on sex, drugs, money, body art, social status, friend connections, power, conspicuous consumption or a host of other popular options, they are probably ready to engage this material. The Interior Mythos Journeys curriculum grew out of a program initially requested by a former NCAA Division I Women's athletic coach as she sought a way to allow 18 - 22 year old female student athletes to manifest peak performance by applying profound universal life principles and practices within the fast-paced and high-pressure environment of Division I NCAA athletics. Not only is this material appropriate for young people today, it was the intersection of contemporary youthful athletic engagement and the profound lessons of the great wisdom traditions of the East and the West that originally inspired this curriculum.
How do I upload my photo into the discussion forum? After you have successfully registered for the website, and indicated that you would like to participate in the discussion forum, you should upload a photo of yourself. In the discussion forum, go to the "my profile" section (top right corner next to your name). Your photo is currently empty, but at the bottom of the screen you will see that you have the option to upload your own "Avatar photo". Click "Browse" and choose a photo of yourself from your computer. Then click "OK". Your photo should now appear at the top of the screen. If your photo is too big, you may have to resize the photo. Below are instructions on how to do so. From a PC computer... Right click on the photo you want to resize. Choose the option to "Edit". Select the "Resize" icon. Choose to Resize the photo in "Pixels". Change either the horizontal or vertical size to 100 pixals or less. If the photo does not automatically resize the resolution, you may have to enter in a number to resize. If it does not resize automatically, sometimes it will suggest the optimal pixal amount for the photo to appear correctly, so please choose that amount. Select "OK". Then save the photo under a new name, such as "Avatar photo". Go to the forum and try to upload the new photo. If it is still too large, you may have to resize again to a smaller size. From a MAC/Apple computer... Open the photo you want to use with Preview software, this is software that all MAC computers have, so just click on the photo and it should open in Preview. Go up to the tool bar and select the drop down menu, "Tools", then select "Adjust Size". Change either the width of the photo, or the height of the photo to 100 PIXELS. The photo will automatically resize to the corresponding length or width. Make sure you have the drop down menu on the right set to PIXELS, and not percent, inch etc. Save the new size of the photo (you may want to call the file something like Avatar photo). Then try to upload the new, resized photo to the forum. Forum photos must be 100 pixels in length or height. And if all else fails, please email your photo in an attachment to info@mayvideo.com along with your login info. Maryellen May of May Videography (who provides video & web support for this website) will be happy to upload your photo for you.
Can this be true that the next Interior Mythos Journeys program is not happening until 2013? Yes, the next currently planned “physical” big group get-together is scheduled for 2013. Other events may or may not become scheduled between now and then. However, the On-Line Group Discussion Forum is happening NOW! So, the idea is that anybody, anywhere in the world can become involved right now in posting questions or reflections of substance on the Forum and share in an exchange-of-depth with other folks participating in this journey. All someone needs in order to play is a computing device and a willingness to go on a journey. For example, any of the “classes” or talks that challenged or excited your attention from the 2009 program (all the Videos and all the materials are on the website – and, there are more being added all the time) and may have raised a question for you or inspired a reflection, these questions and comments can now be placed on the Forum. This allows someone else to then experience the same challenge or excitement or push the reflection to a new level. We look forward to seeing you on the Forum!
How do I post a comment on the Forum? 1) Login to the Website with your username (e-mail address) and password. 2) Under the Menu option choose “Forum” – hopefully you will see your name displayed in the upper right hand corner - if not, contact us at info@storywarrior.net for assistance 3) Choose (click) “General Discussion” and pick a topic that seems to be in line with the question or comment you would like to post – Click on it. 4) Click on the “Add Reply” category and a blank window should appear for you to fill in – write your message 5) Click “Add Message”
There is a ton of information on this website. Where do I start? How do I use this? How do I drink the ocean? “You don’t drink it; you swim in it.” It is a great unanswerable question as to whether a fish is aware that it lives in a sea of water? Similarly, most of us mistakenly think we live in time and space and bump around on a small planet called “earth” until we die and then we don’t anymore. We don’t give much thought to the greater timeless and infinite reality of Being of which we are a part; we swim in an invisible and interior Sea of Energy that holds us and sustains us and from which we can never be separated. But, because we choose to be mostly unaware of our true nature we spend our time floundering or drowning in this essential Reality we have yet to claim. This website is mostly an invitation for all of us to learn to swim in the deep water of our own lives; this is a journey of trusting that this deep water does in fact support us. Secondly, a “Journey” component to the website is one of the several curriculum items that is in early planning stages. The intention is to develop a sequenced journey of videos, readings, reflections, and practical daily exercises to assist someone in grounding the material and advancing on a journey of depth. This is one of the programs that will be phased in over the next decade; but, not today. So……in the meantime, the best recommendation is 1) Make a regular Practice of visiting the website on a comfortable schedule for short, non-intrusive encounters with a 5 minute video in the Video Gallery or a random selection from the VOICES section found in the Story Circle Curriculum. Simply encounter this random material and then reflect on it within the context of your real everyday life; live with it. 2) Capture “breakthrough” reflections or questions in your own Personal Journal (one is provided on the website). 3) Participate in the Forum. Interacting with others on a self-aware journey is a great method for intensifying the quality of your own path of depth. If you really wish to intensify this dynamic, start a Story Circle of friends or family with whom you wish to share a journey or deepen a relationship. Guidelines for taking this more radical step are also included on the website. Please keep asking this question, and, as you discover answers, please share them with the rest of us on the Forum.
How do I see your videos on my iPhone? It doesn't seem like vimeo is compatible with iPhone? There's an app for that! http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vimeo/id425194759?mt=8 It's free, and you should be able to watch all of our videos on you iPhone after downloading.
How is Interior Mythos Journeys like the weather? How much time do we spend reading about, watching, thinking about, predicting and talking about the weather outside? 230 Some people spend a lot of time worrying about, focusing upon, fretting over, and wishing they could change the weather. However, the weather is the weather; it is our inescapable external environment. We can't do much about it but we sure love to talk about it and give it attention. What if we were to spend as much energy, focus and attention on our interior posture and environment; the weather inside? The external weather we have little or no influence upon other than the relationship (an interior reality) we choose toward it. Yet our interior environment is where we actually live and upon this environment each of us has absolute dominion; we are in charge. It is the nurture, sustenance, management and practice of an intentional interior life in a contemporary setting that is the domain of Interior Mythos Journeys.