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Language: en
hey everybody Welcome to a very special
episode of impact books today we are
reviewing what is quite possibly my
favorite book of all time it certainly
had a massive impact on my life and it's
called The Power of myth by Joseph
[Applause]
Campbell was actually originally
recorded as an interview series between
journalist Bill Moyers and Joseph
Campbell the preeminent scholar of
comparative religion and mythology and
I've had the great pleasure of reading
both the physical book and listening to
the original recordings and I have to
say there's really no substitute for
hearing the author's voice especially
because the book was pulled from the
very conversational interview which was
recorded not too long before Campbell's
death I read the book about 17 years ago
and it left an indelible mark on me
figuratively and quite literally and I
credit this book not only to planting
the seed in my mind that would
ultimately blossom into impact Theory
but I also credit it with setting up my
marriage On Solid Ground in many ways
this book makes up the very Foundation
of my entire life philosophy and the
reason for that is it made very clear to
me that residing within mythology and
ritual are the universal in fact the
elemental truth of The Human Experience
the power of myth was published by
penguin randomhouse boys and girls and I
owe you guys a huge debt of gratitude
for this one so thank you imp impactful
idea number one the elemental truths
while the particulars vary from culture
to culture the underlying meaning behind
mythology points to absolutely Universal
things about The Human Condition myths
help us codify and understand the world
around us they are the human Minds
attempt to make sense of things like
life and death The Duality of the voices
in our head love and hate pain and Bliss
and it's not just the dualities but
myths also help us understand things for
which we just don't have any words they
help us come into grips with the truths
that are simply outside of the realm of
language said another way mythology
helps us structure our lives and our
thought patterns the lessons that they
teach us on how to live act and think
really help us to understand our own
existence and to parap Campbell
mythology is the Poetry that pushes our
mind beyond what we can represent with
words and into the world that can be
known but never told in other words they
capture what you feel but can't explain
being being able to grab a hold of the
ineffable and make it concrete and
something that then you can use as a
filter for how to live your life really
is the very power of Mythology and why I
am so obsessed and why I think quite
frankly that it's important at this
moment in society that we get a better
grip on
mythology impactful idea number two
follow your bliss all right this is
probably the most famous thing that
Joseph Campbell ever said and I think
that his famous quote remains incredibly
relevant today and the full quote goes
like this follow your bliss and doors
will open where there were no doors
before this is very similar to the
concept of following your passion but I
think his slight variation in choice of
words actually carries some really
useful meaning to people and what he was
talking about when he says to follow
your bliss is to do that which makes you
feel most alive and that sense of doing
what makes you feel most alive to me is
probably the most useful definition of
passion or Bliss that's available
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impactful idea number three there is a
lack of modern mythology and a serious
lack of meaningful ritual to help people
with the transitional moments in life
now when Moyers asks Joseph Campbell
what a world without mythology would
look like Campbell tells him simply to
look around at the world that he's
living in because we are going through
an age without effective mythology and
when pressed however Campbell says that
he believes that Star Wars actually is
pretty relevant modern mythology but and
he points out a really critical problem
and that is that people know that the
story is fiction and without the cloak
of mystery that made ancient mythology
so compelling to people the modern
mythology is always going to struggle to
have an impact on our lives that notion
is exactly what planted the seed in my
mind about impact Theory because I
totally agree with Campbell the problem
isn't mythology we're really good at
creating mythology the problem is that
we don't know how to interpret and use
mythology in our lives and if you look
at the sheer VA volume of morality based
stories pouring out of the comic book
film and TV worlds you can see that the
problem isn't just getting myth the
problem is really ritualizing it using
it as a filter and understanding how to
actually live our lives and because of
that people don't know how to absorb the
teachings and I think that the modern
equivalent of ritual is ritualized skill
acquisition and the expression of those
skills in service of something larger
than oneself so if you're wondering
what's driving the ideology and content
creation behind impact Theory it's this
very idea we live in a post-modern world
where ancient myths seem somewhat absurd
people don't believe in them the world
is changing so fast that no myth has any
hope of becoming ritualized and when you
start thinking about needing the rituals
in order to cross into a new phase in
Life or to really understand how to live
one's life we all come up wanting so
that to me is something that's really
critical right now that we all have to
take on the burden ourselves is
understanding how to cross from
childhood into adulthood or from single
life into marriage and that's why I
think people have to really refocus on
mythology and they have to understand
how to interpret it as a way to live
boiling down any book into the impactful
quotes is always part of the fun for me
but it's also brutally difficult
especially this book you really can't
imagine how many quotes from this book
reside in my mind how many of them have
become part of the very fabric of how I
live but here are the three that I've
chosen
number one people say what we're all
seeking is a meaning for life but I
don't think that's what we're really
seeking I think what we're seeking is
the experience of truly being alive this
goes back to this concept of following
your bliss of finding that thing that
really lights you on fire that makes you
feel alive that is just from a
neurochemistry standpoint exciting and
that is such a great marker for people
to use to guide them through their lives
and really is one of the most enduring
things to come out of this book not just
for me but for the World At Large when
people talk about this book that's the
quote that they
cite impactful quote number two myth is
a manifestation in symbolic images in
metaphorical images of the energies of
the organs of the body in conflict with
each other this organ wants this that
organ wants that the brain is one of
those organs all right to me this sums
up my entire life literally mythology is
us trying to come to terms with that war
that's going on inside of us with the
desire to be lazy and stay in bed and
yet at the same time to go and
accomplish great things and it really is
mythology that helps us make sense of
all of the conflicting ideas and desires
that we have within ourselves and it
puts it into a narrative and that
narrative makes the incredibly
complicated and complex experience of
being a human tangible and
understandable impactful quote number
three and I want you guys to really pay
attention to this one the greater life's
pain the greater life's
reply I absolutely love this quote
because I think the thing in life that
people succumb to is pain I think that
so much of the trouble that people get
into is either trying to avoid pain or
trying to mask pain rather than dealing
with it and what I think Campbell makes
incredibly clear here is that if you can
fight through that pain if you can
endure that on the other side of that a
especially when you put it into the
context of this man being just a student
of Mythology that on the other side of
that hero's journey no matter how
painful it is is a response from life
about who you are and what you're truly
capable of so rather than looking for a
way out find that way through to reveal
who you really
are all right there are so many amazing
quotes and ideas in this book be sure to
go to impact theory.com for more quotes
from this book that should be dodged
deep inside your mind the part about
reading a book quite frankly and the
book review is that's the most important
to me how am I going to use this in my
life all right with this one as Pete
Carol says you need a life philosophy a
belief system that informs your everyday
decisions the power of myth in no
uncertain terms helped me Define mine
it's touched every aspect of my life
from my marriage to my business it's
helped me identify my Bliss and find the
structure I needed to grow together with
my wife over time it's informed my my
writing it's given voice to the impact
that I want to have on this world it is
quite simply part of the foundation of
my entire belief system and while I
can't say that this book is the most
important book for everybody to read I
can say that it's the book that's
impacted me the most partly because I
read it at a time that was very
formative in my life and partly because
it's just that badass and I'm really a
little bit mortified by this book review
because this book has given so much to
my life and I don't feel like I have ADD
quately captured how effective it is at
helping you understand life at helping
you understand pain at helping you
understand narrative and yourself and
all of the conflict that you're going to
go through this book breaks it down by
looking globally at all the mythologies
and stories that we tell ourselves
across cultures and it really shows how
The Human Experience just isn't that
different and at a time where it seems
like people are more divided than ever
this book is something that's really
going to show you we just aren't that
different that the experience no matter
where you are no matter where you grow
up no matter the particulars of the
stories that your culture has
told there are fundamental Elemental
truths that live underneath that that
inform and explain the Human Experience
I really hope you guys will enjoy this
book as much as I have and as always
there just are way too many Concepts and
things for me to cover in this so please
this is not an appeal for you to have
watched this and feel like you read the
book this is an appeal for you to go and
actually read the book and go to impact
theory.com you can find more insights
rants quotes all kinds of good stuff
which will hopefully make the book come
more alive to you guys all right I want
to leave you guys with one last quote
you must have a room or a certain hour
or so a day where you don't know what
was in the newspapers that morning you
don't know who your friends are you
don't know what anybody owes you this is
a place where you can simply experience
and bring forth what you are and what
you might be this is the place of
creative incubation at first you might
find that nothing happens there but if
you want to hear the rest of that quote
you guys are going to have to read the
book and I hope that you do this one is
going to change you if you let it all
right guys this is a weekly show so if
you haven't already be sure to subscribe
and until next time my friends be
legendary take care
[Applause]
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