What I totally meant to write about yesterday, but didn't, because the entry got waaaay too long

[polaris134]

Highlights of my weekend included such diverse activities as:

-the first writing party since September. Pizza, socializing, some gift exchanging, and writing/drawing. I'm progressing on the Jack Rabbit story, though I'm hitting a few bumps in the road (or should I say Road?). I guess the lesson I'm walking away from with this is that it

Comments

[vezonex]

you pose an interesting question

[agentfroot]

I think you might be talking about the Wee Sing video about Sally's birthday party. Sally's little brother Jonathan kept saying "outrageous" when Melody Mouse and Hum Bear came to life and took them to a magical land for Sally's musical birthday party.

I haven't seen that video in at least 15 years, but I practically have it memorized because of my tendency to watch things 5 billion times.

Ah, nostalgia.

Outrageous!

[polaris134]

Indeed! Good conversation fodder.

One of my favorite Campbellian aspects of the journey story is that the main character returns to their own world and sees it in a completely different light: either the kid brother's impressed "outrageous!" or the silent, somewhat baffled and poignant look that the hobbits all share over their first beer together at the bar after they return to Hobbiton. It can be a very bittersweet experience, and it's always been the part that moves me the most.

It's that moment when you realize, "This person has changed. They can never go back to being who they were before the journey." And, depending on the nature of the journey, that person might never again be normal, or able to live a normal life. They may be a better person, wiser or stronger, but they're a little out of synch with the rest of the world--their new vision makes them seem different, or a little 'touched.'

Okay, now I'm lapsing into a ramble! Someday I need to babble monomyth theory at you :)

Re: Outrageous!

[kelkelen]

What was the lovely simple way Neil Gaiman put it, in the short story/poemish thing you had me listen to? "You will return to the house where your journey began. It will seem smaller than you remember it."

Okay, so that's absolutely *not* it, verbatim, but that's the gist.

Or, from Into the Woods:
"The roof, the house, and your mother at the door.
The roof, the house, and the world you never thought to explore.
And you think of all of the things you've seen,
And you wish that you could live in between,
But you're back again, only different than before,
After the sky... "

I always <3 that part of stories, too. *wipes tear

[enseetaratro]

I don't think I can say anything that hasn't already been said here, but a note to say I read and concur.

'Straddling both worlds'? 'Part of Daniel's return'? You guys are freakin' me out. Are you saying you know how my story ends?

[polaris134]

Um...uh...well, ya see--Look over there! *points and runs*