Chapter 5: Responding To The Call

Joseph Campbell’s writings describes the hero’s journey. It begins with a call to adventure. In my case, this call to adventure began with my experience as an exchange student in Switzerland. One of my ultimate physical tests was when I returned for a semester abroad over the winter. I trained to be able to participate in a ski touring trip from Arolla to Zermatt  on La Haute Route. By changing settings and adventuring to the top of the Alpine peaks, I initiated a transformational process. Not only did I want to change myself, but I wanted to bring that change to the world.
 
This is the village where my husband Angelo grew up. I was an exchange student in Valais in 1981 and came to this village with my host family, Angelo’s aunt Marguerite.
Here is a documentary that shows the village life in Isérables:
https://www.facebook.com/lesarchivesdelaRTS/videos/853100825152542/?v=853100825152542
 
 
Here are pictures of our ski touring expedition in 1984-from Arolla to Zermatt:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/5ygCpS9Qh7VQinej9
 
Here is a documentary on La Haute Route from the same era, when we did our ski touring adventure:
https://www.rts.ch/archives/tv/culture/chronique-montagne/8427952-la-haute-route.html
 
Here is a map and explanations about navigating the trails between Chamonix’s Mont Blanc and Zermatt’s Matterhorn: https://www.thehikinglife.com/2010/10/chamonix-zermatt-walkers-haute-route/
 
Joseph Campbell wrote about the Hero’s Journey. Here is an article about the power of myths. The hero’s journey is a transformational expedition that takes us out of our familiar environment and into a new landscape of meaning. An excerpt from the article underscores how the transformational process is enkindled saying, ““…Without a change of setting, the hero cannot change herself, and without a change in herself, the hero cannot change the world” (p.381)”