Joseph Campbell found a “hero’s journey” in the myths of every culture he studied. A reluctant hero is thrown into a strange and wondrous land, where he confronts danger. He retreats to seek wisdom and learns he has the power to overcome what he fears. Tat’s what’s happening in Tolkien’s Ring trilogy; in Star Wars; in just about every Disney film ever made.


AND THAT’S WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN THE STORIES YET TO BE TOLD.


Te arc of obstacles, danger and redemption is universal. Tat said, stories also play very particular roles in different cultures, binding a group’s members together and reminding them that they are part of something larger than themselves.


“Paul Revere galloping to Lexington at midnight, Betsy Ross sewing the flag, Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on the bus…these stories resonate with anybody born in the U.S.A.”, says designer Kelly Giles.


Even a family’s stories, passed down from one generation to the next, give each member a sense of belonging.


Stories change the way we see the past and the future, ourselves and each other. Te good ones can be told across cultures, across ages, across backgrounds, even across centuries. It’s fun to see Richard III set during World War II, but nobody has to rewrite Shakespeare, or Homer, or the Bible, before we can understand the characters’ acts and desires.


Great stories are timeless. CHAPTER ONE 15


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