The Hero's Journey has 12 stages. They are:

1. Ordinary World - The hero's normal world before the story begins
2. Call to Adventure - The hero is presented with a problem, challenge or adventure
3. Refusal of the Call - The hero refuses the challenge or journey, usually because he's scared
4. Meeting with the Mentor - The hero meets a mentor to gain advice or training for the adventure
5. Crossing the First Threshold - The hero crosses leaves the ordinary world and goes into the special world
6. Tests, Allies, Enemies - The hero faces tests, meets allies, confronts enemies & learn the rules of the Special World.
7. Approach - The hero has hit setbacks during tests & may need to try a new idea
8. Ordeal - The biggest life or death crisis
9. Reward - The hero has survived death, overcomes his fear and now earns the reward
10. The Road Back - The hero must return to the Ordinary World.
11. Resurrection Hero - another test where the hero faces death – he has to use everything he's learned
12. Return with Elixir - The hero returns from the journey with the "elixir", and uses it to help everyone in the Ordinary World

Are you a hero? Who are your Heroes? Who are the people taking a Journey?

What can the PlanetShifter.com Event Circle Interviews tell us about the heroes of the Sustainability Age?

The Thought Leaders Define the Hero:

• One who listens to an inner voice
  
• A hero can seem like a selfish person on the outside
  
• A true hero sacrifices the parts of themselves that betray their intuition
  
• A hero keeps growing, seeking to improve themselves, giving their gifts, and helping the world and their communities
  
• Champions that rescue us from peril that we could not have escaped otherwise
  
• Heroes are role models
  
• They conquer fear and as a result transcends commonly accepted limitations
  
• Hero restores and promotes hope and often helps generations to integrate loftier concepts and desired ideals
  
• They speak the truth, and follow their dreams
  
• Heroes take responsibility for her thoughts, actions and words, and admit when they could have done or said something differently
  
• They are prepared to act selflessly for others
  
• There is power both in the art, and being in service – in this (heroic) intersection

Seek the Soul and Trace the Path
Notice that many Heroes do not fit neatly into any of the categories:

Politicians:
Bobby Kennedy
Gandhi
MLK, Jr.

Activists:
Anita Roddick
Wangari Maathai
Jesus of Nazareth
Ed Begley
Laurie David


Scientists:
Ada Lovelace
Jean Jacques Cousteau
Nicola Tesla

Jan Gudman-Høyer
Global Ecovillage Network: Robert Gilman, Albert Bates, Max Lindegger, Hildur and Ross Jackson
Andy Lipkus of Tree People

Artists / Writers:
Desmond Morris
Marc Bolan
Joseph Campbell
David Byrne
Carl Sagan
David Bowie
Salvador Dali
Beatles
Stones
Rimbaud
Mervyn Peake
CS Llewis
JRR Tolkien
Gustav Klimpt
Neil Young
John Lennon
Malcolm Gladwell
Peter Gabriel
Andy Goldsworthy
Brian Swimme
Allaudin Mathieu
Ken Wilber

Be Your Own Hero.

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Source Material from the Event Circle Series, PlanetShifter.com:


My idea of a hero is someone whose actions are not based on following what is necessarily expected of them by friends/family/society and even themselves, but based on listening to an inner voice that is greater than their own idle chatter. I think that a hero can seem like a selfish person on the outside, but the truth is quite the opposite, because they allow themselves to be moved by the divine. A true hero sacrifices the parts of themselves that betray their intuition. A friend of mine calls this being a "human robot." You would think that this has negative connotations but it doesn't, it simply means that you hear the commands of your authentic self and you DO. No questioning, only trust. Am I a hero? On the best of days I think that I am. And on the worst, my robot self is still tinkering with ways to get rid of the old programming.

Interview with Dréa Drury


In the communities movement, my heroes are Robert Gilman, Albert Bates, Max Lindegger, Hildur and Ross Jackson, and the other cofounders of the global ecovillage movement and GEN (Global Ecovillage Network) back in the early 1990s; Penelope Reyes, one of the founders of Pintig Ecovillage in the Philippines; Jan Gudman-Høyer, the architect who developed the cohousing concept in Denmark; and Charles Durrett and Kathryn McCammant, who brought cohousing to North America with their 1996 book, Cohousing.

Interview with the Community Builder: Diana Leafe Christian


There are many people that I admire, too many to list! In general, I value people who keep growing, seeking to improve themselves, giving their gifts, and helping the world and their communities. When we all do that, we can all blossom and support the blossoming of others.

Interview with Writer, Public Speaker, and Community Educator Patricia Dines

Heroes are the champions that rescue us from peril that we could not have escaped otherwise. Some people have heroes, but I suspect many more people have role models instead. Heroes tend to be idolized, whereas role models provide examples to live a fulfilled life. My role models include Desmond Morris, Joseph Campbell, Jesus of Nazareth, David Byrne, Carl Sagan, and many, many others. To my knowledge I am not a hero to anyone, though I try to constantly be a role model to others.

Interview Two with Jacob Haqq-Misra



DIVINA:
To me a hero is somebody that conquers fear and as a result transcends commonly accepted limitations. A hero restores and promotes hope and often helps generations to integrate loftier concepts and desired ideals. I do have a hero in me, and I am working on being one in every aspect of my life / of myself. I am conquering myself, so yes, I am my hero.

DOUGLAS:
Divina is my hero. She speaks her truth, and follows her dreams. She challenges herself to be the best she can be. She takes responsibility for her thoughts, actions and words, and will admit when she could have done or said something differently. She doesn't hide from herself or anyone else. She helps me to be a better man. She traveled from her home country to another continent with confidence and grace, learning the language and creating her own business. Every moment with her is an inspiration, and for that and many more reasons, Divina is my hero.

Last year, I saved a woman's life at an antique store. I opened her airway and allowed her to breathe. Had I left her as she was, she would have died. I went out of my way to train to know what to do. That's always been important to me, to be prepared to act in any given situation. To know what to do. That is a clear example of "knowledge is power". I've been a Wilderness First Responder, trained for Search & Rescue. That day, I walked away nameless and unthanked. I think that's a pretty classic use of the word hero that gets overlooked. I've helped a lot of animals throughout my life. In that sense, I've been a hero, but I don't think that makes me a hero now. I'm definitely prepared to be a hero again. That's as simple as being prepared to act selflessly for another, or knowing CPR.

Interview with Divina Klein and Douglas Mackar of La Forza

My parents, definitely. Also, my two sons. Everyday I learn how to be a better father, friend and all-around person by being around them. My wife has been incredibly supportive throughout this whole journey and in many cases she is greener than I. Outside of my family, I grew up a huge Lakers fan (still am) and was amazed at what Magic Johnson could do. I am a student of Gandhi and love to read and learn about people that have made making a difference a priority.

Interview with Rajeev Kapur, Chief Wala, GreenWala.com


I have a lot of green heroes. The green area is full of notable and respectable individuals. Among them, Wangari Mathai, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for her work in planting trees in Africa and for breaking the forestry devastation. Andy Lipkus of Tree People for his urban forestry and early work in the environmental movement in Los Angeles. Ed Begley, for his eco-commitment, his humor and for using his background as an actor to get Hollywood involved. Laurie David for her activism in getting the 'Inconvenient Truth' on the big screen and for creating a website that has been very instrumental in raising political awareness. Bobby Kennedy for championing the need to keep our waterways clean and fish healthy....I could go on.

Interview with Gay Browne, Founder of Greenopia.com

Heroes: humans whose accomplishments inspire. I think of Ada Lovelace, the world's first programmer, Nicola Tesla who gave us transportable electricity and celebrated eccentricity, John Lennon who believed in love. Am I hero? Not yet.
Interview with PlanetShifter.com Drupal engineer and San Francisco Musician / Artist / Writer Cheth Rowe

Anita Roddick for trying something new and ethical at a stage when no one talked sustainability, climate change and so on. That is true leadership and vision. Jean Jacques Cousteau has been a big inspiration for me since I was a child. I am French and used to watch all his programmes. His passion for the environment and especially for the marine life was tantalizing and palpable even from the screen. A true hero in my eyes.
Interview with Hessia Fernandes, Co-Founder, Cooltribe


my artistic musical n literary heros were
marc bolan david bowie salvador dali beatles stones dylan rimbaud
mervyn peake cs lewis jrr tolkien gustav klimpt neil young

i am probably someones musical hero yes
to myself i'm just an old craftsman whos been doing it a while

Interview with Steve Kilbey, painter, father and songleader of The Church


I believe all of us are the heroes of our own Journey. But it is important to remember that the journey itself is not complete until the Hero returns home to his or her community and delivers the gift or "boon" as Campbell termed it, to the community. The Hero doesn't always live long enough to make the return. I have not as yet delivered my 'boon' but am working on it!

Interview with Ginger Grant, PhD., Managing Partner: Creativity in Business Canada Inc.

Gandhi, Israel Salanter, and anyone who takes the next small step to make a difference.
Interview with Berkeley performance artist and body healer Francesca Genco

For me a hero is someone who is so deeply in service that whatever his or her form of work or creativity is, it comes from that place. There is power both in the art, and being in service - this intersection. A hero has an obvious awareness of the larger picture. Malcolm Gladwell is a hero of mine. Peter Gabriel another. Andy Goldsworthy in a different way. Brian Swimme, Allaudin Mathieu, Ken Wilber, my wife Nika.

I really hope I am a hero for some in the world, and I want them to be hero's for others who become hero's for others. Its like when l learned about my "default intention" (what is the core intention driving ones actions in the world?) from another hero of mine, Anurag Gupta, of The Difference Engine business group?) It is often hidden from us. Turns out it was "Do the right thing for safety, or just for its own sake". 50 years of this dissolved away as I became aware of it and he then had me develop my "sourceful intention" as a new way of being, in its place. Source is his term for the great mystery, god, the essence of existence. Over time my "sourceful intention" evolved to, "Leave'em lit up . . to their own light .. . as Source itself, to light up others"

That's a long roundabout to the beginning thought about hoping for hero's who become hero's who become hero's for others in a ever widening spiral. Or it could be viewed as a mobius strip reconnecting back on itself as an energy form in the world.

Interview with Composer Alan Tower - Founder of Green Music Network

Wow, that's a loaded question! Um, I suppose so. Sure. Why not? I believe that anyone who has the courage to discover their own unique talents and use with an intention to be of service to others is a hero. We are all heroes...at various stages of unfolding.

Having said that, I'm excited to become a much better hero moving forward, like MLK, Jr. He's my hero. I'd love to be able to do what he did (but hopefully without the marital infidelities and assassination part).

Interview with author and change agent John Marshall Roberts