A Brief Note on Refusal of the Call

Today, we’ll ask:

• Have you ever felt called to do something big – but decided not to do it? If so, why did you make that decision? Are you satisfied with the results of that decision? 

In his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell describes what happens when a hero fails to accept the call to adventure, which “converts the adventure into its negative.” (49) What does that mean? “Walled in boredom, hard work, or ‘culture,’ the subject loses the power of significant affirmative action…” (49)

This is common in adulthood: We look around at our coworkers, our friends, even ourselves, and see that our lives have turned into “a wasteland of dry stones and…life feels meaningless.” (49)

A popular diagnosis is that we have failed to nurture our innate passions, and the cure is to follow our bliss. Instead of feeding a childhood interest in music and art, a young woman allows the pressures of practicality to steer her into a career in business. Of course she hates her life! She must resurrect her inner artist! Only then will her heart reignite and her soul come alive! 

Is that true? 

Campbell goes on to explain that “myths and folktales of the whole world make clear that the refusal is essentially a refusal to give up what one takes to be one’s own interest.” (49)

At first glance, this seems to contradict our popular idea that our calling = our bliss, and that we often refuse our call because to follow our call would be too selfish; we choose to stick to a well-trodden path in deference to expectations and to please our loved ones. In other words, our narrative says that we have given up what’s in our best interest (a happy life following our bliss) for the sake of looking out for the interest of others (meeting their needs and expectations). 

This apparent contradiction begs many interesting questions – including, why do we truly decide against pursuing our passions? Is it because our passion may not pay very well, and we like money? Or, that following our dreams feels risky, and we would prefer to follow a path that feels safe? 

These are extremely simple questions with answers that are potentially very complex. But we should never pass up an opportunity to be honest with ourselves – particularly if, wholly as a result of our own choices, we start to fit this description: “All he can do is create new problems for himself and await the gradual approach of his disintegration.” (49)

We’ll close by asking again:

• Have you ever felt called to do something big – but decided not to do it? If so, why did you make that decision? Are you satisfied with the results of that decision?