Open Heart, Open Mind

A recurring theme in the process of writing A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp and the process of promoting the book is the great people that we get to meet along our path.  The people who gave of themselves so that their story could make for a better book, and those whose passion for everything Olympia makes this whole journey very gratifying and humbling. A thought I have today is that we can also get to know people by reading about them. We also learn a lot about ourselves by exploring their journey. This actually is a goal for the journey of this book, that the reader learns about themselves by following the journey of others.

This week in Arizona I read a great book that captures this fact. Clara Hughes is a six-time Olympian, and a six-time Olympic medalist, encompassing both cycling at the Summer Games and Speed Skating at the Winter Games. Her Olympic career took her from Atlanta in 1996 to London in 2012. She also won numerous world championship medals and her bronze medal in Vancouver in 2010 was one of the crowning moments of those Games. Clara was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2010.

But, with the journey being more impactful than the destination, if you look at these accomplishments you miss a lot of the story of one of Canada's greatest athletes. Clara's journey is one of self-exploration and struggles with mental health that she is brutally honest about.  She is living proof that the societal scorecard of success is dwarfed by what we overcome and the person we become along the way. She has impacted hundreds of young people who see her successes but also as a person who rose above and found her spiritual and emotional self that guided her through some very tough times in her life.


As an author I find examples and clues that the message I wrote about are all around me and Clara's book is proof. The best part of the journey is that Clara was guided in many ways by the teachings of a philosopher that is the driving force behind Dave Grace, Olympia Sports Camp, and the Hero's Journey. It was so awesome to have Clara honour the words and beliefs of Joseph Campbell. Campbell's book The Hero Of a Thousand Faces is the motivation behind the Hero's Awakening.  It's quite exciting to see that an athlete of Clara Hughes pedigree follows the same pattern of growth and perspective that Olympia believes in and fosters. Clara is a success in many different ways and her book shows that her life is indeed a hero's journey.

Oh the people we get to meet on our journey.

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