What do Rumi, Led Zeppelin, Luke Skywalker and Harry Potter have all in common? Let’s hear from my friend Damian his thoughts about it!
The 13th century Persian poet Rumi offers us some insight on mindset here. The famous quote attributed to Rumi is: “The wound is the place where the Light enters you. ”In our mindset we ruminate (excuse the pun) on the emotional, psychological and mental wounds – inflicted on us externally by the actions of others or internally by our unconscious individual mindset. We make up a story of our lives and life each day through those filters. We either struggle through life with the pain holding us back – effectively keeping us stuck, or we ignore the pain and set ourselves a higher purpose. The difficulty with the latter is the pain doesn’t go away.
Let’s explore this further, you will know that the mindset can hold us back or push us forward. It can also cause us to sabotage our efforts and destroy what we have created. You can be blind to the inner demons that seemingly threaten your desires and goals – the majority of people are unconscious to them. The final line in the Led Zeppelin song The Battle of Evermore finishes with: “With flames from the dragon of darkness, The sunlight blinds his eyes”. Maybe the dragon of darkness represents your inner demons and the power this has over you.
The human dichotomy is to overcome the inner demons causing you to sabotage your results. The work of Joseph Campbell refers to this as the ‘Heroes Journey’ (book: The Hero with a thousand faces). Campbell studied mythology and religion – discovering a pattern of the journey through life. At many points the humble human (ill-equipped to master the journey) will become stuck and meets resistance along the pathway. When you can learn to rise above the pattern, conquer your fears and tame your inner demons – you truly can embrace your inner power and -to quote Campbell – “follow your bliss”.
The Heroes Journey storyline is now famously linked to multiple blockbuster films – the first of which was Star Wars Episode IV (the very first film made in the Star Wars series). George Lucas credited Campbell’s influence on the film series – depicting our hero through Luke Skywalker. When he meets the master guru Ben Kenobi, Luke denies his calling to become a Jedi by stating he needs to focus on his chores. He was not yet in the right mindset. What unfolds shortly after is that the chores are no longer relevant or important in Luke’s life – and so his quest and journey to the next phase commences. His mindset gets shifted due to the circumstances changing and Luke is guided to transform his direction. How many times have you received a ‘calling’ or ‘whisper’ from your soul to change direction or up your game – yet failed to grasp that moment or ignored the hidden messages and lapse into normality or mediocrity?
The Heroes Journey is also used in the Harry Potter movie franchise, where we follow the young wizard on his journey to facing his demons. Remember the distinctive scar on Harry’s forehead – it would light up when Voldemort was near or when Harry faced danger. Remember the Rumi quote mentioned earlier, maybe a subtle reference to how Harry will be able to shine. Eventually Harry has to face his arch enemy Lord Voldemort – he has to battle with courage and on his own. The ending is clear and we know that Lord Voldemort is destroyed and dies. However, it is not Harry that kills him. Yes Harry Potter battles with his arch demon and he does make progress in the fight. However Lord Voldemort is eventually killed by his own spell that backfires on him.
There is no doubt that the battle and journey we see portrayed by Harry is the Heroes Journey and we see the mindset of the determined hero conquering his biggest challenge and rising up to meet his calling and fulfill his purpose. We also witness the sabotage of Lord Voldemort who uses fear, anger and destruction – intent on destroying others, which leads to his actions backfiring on himself and his terminal ending. The mindset led to the sabotaging actions, which caused his ultimate destruction.
How many times have you set out (with focus, energy and motivation) to pursue a specific end result and then failed to achieve the outcome and resolved the tension by playing small, getting distracted or felt the energy fizzling away from your momentum as your desires wane. This causes conflict inside, which can eat away in your mindset – your unconscious reminds you that you were not good enough, or you are not worthy or you don’t belong. This can lead to sadness and you would be left not knowing why you feel depressed or have a long term sadness.
The conflict arises when you know you are capable of more and want to transform your life – but you are totally unconscious to how the ego shows up to cause havoc in your life. The chaos creates frustration or anger for some – whilst leaving others with tension or fear, almost like they are out of control. For some they may feel sad or even depressed at not being able to be good enough to achieve more – experiencing feelings of not being worthy or not belonging.
Maybe pay more attention next time you hear a Jedi whisper in your ear or you are tempted to give up. What is the lesson within the experience that will help you on your journey?”
To find out your self-sabotage risk score click on this link to complete a complimentary assessment and receive a free practical guide to help you overcome self-sabotage in the area of your life most at risk: FREE Self-Sabotage Assessment
You can also read the article @ damianculhane.co.uk/articles by Damian Culhane
Hope you enjoyed this reading. Feel free to share it with anybody who can take advantage of it and leave your own comments down below.
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Love, Roberta
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About the Author: Damian Culhane
“From my journey through addictions and mental health issues, I have a very personal insight into how sabotage has impacted my life. I learnt how to turn my suffering into finding my purpose and turning that experience into healing. I now specialise in working with clients 1:1 and in groups, to neutralise the ego and rise above suffering. I would be honoured to work with you to support you in creating a life you love. I am passionate about teaching transformational thinking to free you from your emotional and psychological wounds. I have learned it is better to live in the present moment rather than letting your past define you. You will learn how to light that spark in your life, inspiring you to embrace your truth and liberate your soul. My desire is that you will know how to reconnect with what your heart desires and honour your true self.”
Visit also: damianculhane.co.uk
