Self-inflicted Wounds

"Oh I'd rather go and journey where the diamond crest is flowing and
Run across the valley beneath the sacred mountain and
Wander through the forest
Where  the trees have leaves of prisms and break the light in colors
That no one knows the names of

And when it's time I'll go and wait beside a legendary fountain
Till I see your form reflected in it's clear and jeweled waters
And if you think I'm ready
You may lead me to the chasm where the rivers of our vision
Flow into one another

I will want to die beneath the white cascading waters
She may beg, she may plead, she may argue with her logic
And then she'll know the things I learned
That really have no value in the end she will surely know
I wasn't born to follow."  Wasn't Born to Follow,  The Byrds, 1968

As it turns out, Guru Mack was a liar and a fraud.  He promised his flock freedom and happiness, but all he delivered was hot air and empty promises.  But before he got old, and before one of his wives pushed him off a cliff to his death, Guru Mack said this to his followers-- "This self you speak of is not a fixed object, it's a story you're telling. If you want to change your self, you've got to change your story."

I was introduced to Joseph Campbell through The Power of Myth. The Power of Myth did not start out as a book. The Power of Myth was an interview which became a PBS special and then became a coffee table book. Bill Moyers interviewed Campbell not too long before his death and the rest is history,including my own history. 

The first thing I learned about in the book was the myth of "myth."  Myth is not a falsehood.  Myth is the truth.  Myth is the truth of all truths.  The entire history of civilization is carried on its myths, its stories.  Eons before "recorded history" each generation carried forward its known existence with its stories.  Even pre-historic archaeological digs tell stories. We wouldn't know these people and places ever existed without their myths, their stories.

If our lives do nothing else, they tell a story.  The most marvelous thing about us though is that we are not bound by our stories..  Guru Mack was right; we can change our stories. We not only can change our stories going forward, we can change the stories of our past. If the stories we remember cause heartache and distress, then we can remember different stories. Of the  thousands of stories we can choose to remember, why do we quite often recall the ones that cause us the most pain? "And then she'll know the things I learned that have no value in the end."  All of our stories have value.  All of our stories matter.  The good stories and the bad stories are all important. But it's up to us to choose the ones we want to remember. The good stories are just as true as the bad ones.

Guru Mack doesn't exist.  He's the figment of a writer's imagination.  He's from Season Three, Episode Seven of Orange is the New Black. Yet he still has something important to say. If you're tired of your  stories, then change them.  In the process you may just  change your life.