What Stories Are You Living?

According to thesaurus.com, heroism manifests in many different ways. Out of curiosity, I read through the list and found that all of those ways were requisite of some sort of action. From adventurer, to champion, protector to warrior, all heroes (aside from the sandwiches) do something. It can be said that such heroes are living the story of protagonist vs. antagonist, ally vs. nemesis, or good vs. evil. Rarely has a human life been lived which did not encounter some sort of desire or crisis. The well presented What Stories are You Living By Dr. Carol S. Pearson, shows that how we approach achieving or conquering these situations is largely determined by our dominant archetype.  

In What Stories Are You Living, Dr. Pearson builds on the scope and applications of her previous books extolling Jungian theory. What Stories Are You Living digs deep into the motivations and desires of 12 archetypes in order to show the reader-hero how to claim hero-ship over almost any element in their lives. Dr. Pearson has developed these archetypes using theories from renowned Psychologist C.G. Jung, and Psychoanalyst James Hillman and has built upon the myths portrayed in Joseph Campbell's work. 

I found the book fun and informative, but one of the most interesting things about What Stories Are You Living, is that a reader can pick it up, begin reading anywhere their eyes land, and be instantly taken in, be it by one of the many stories adapted from the classics generously peppered throughout, or by some of the more clinical, but no less enthralling, anecdotes delivered by Dr. Pearson. 

In the beginning of the book, an assessment is offered for those who would like to know more about their high, low, and midrange archetypes. Knowing one's heroic strengths will help improve situations at work, school, or in relationships. The test does not take very long, and it's fun to see the results. The Pearson-Marr Archetype Indicator, PMAI, was developed by Dr. Pearson and Dr. Hugh Marr as a means of ranking an individual's unique hierarchy of archetypical strengths. The twelve archetypes fall within these twelve headings: 

---Idealist --- Realist --- Warrior --- Caregiver --- Seeker --- Lover --- Revolutionary --- Creator ---Magician --- Sage --- Ruler --- Jester

Taking the assessment added an element of adventure, or interactive reading to the whole book.

All of which makes chapter 4 a very interesting 40 pages to read. Each type undergoes the microscope and the image is conveyed to the reader in colorful bits of consistent descriptors such as plotlines, conflicts, endings and processes, serving to encourage a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of every archetype. Exemplified within these descriptions are the journeys, all within the range of Starting Out, Adulting, Trigger Issue, Integrating, etc. described for each. 

Reading on, we discover positives for all types, how to understand the reader's archetypical scores on the PMAI assessment, psychotherapy, applications in schools, at work, etc. Then comes my favorite - Ch. 10! More stories as Dr. Pearson uses archetypical narrative to illustrate each type's strengths and follies. Daoist teachings, a Thomas Edison anecdote a Finnish myth, movie quotes, cartoon characters, classic novels, this section is an all inclusive, no holds barred extravaganza of story plots, characters, and drama. A perfect culmination of stories for a body of work exposing the stories we are living.