MY PERSONAL MYTHOLOGY

"I have often had the fancy that there is some one myth for every man, which, if we but knew it, would make us understand all he did and thought."  William Butler Yeats  I heartily concur. I think all of us have a personal mythology that guides our lives. I'm not talking about religion or a thought-out philosophy. I'm talking about a strong, almost unconscious intuition about life and how we fit in to it. Maybe it's a fragment of a story that explains things for us, and it's different for every person. I thought it might be fun to try to articulate some of these suppressed stories, and see what they look like when dressed and cleaned up. My own myth is that I'm Odysseus and the forces I meet in the world are represented by colossal monsters and beautiful sirens. My intuition tells me that the world is a beautiful but menacing place and that there are people who would kill me if they could, not for any rational reason, but because they're driven by forces they don't understand any more than I do. I also believe that the world is full of Siren-like temptations that, if I gave in to them, would fatally weaken me. A personal myth often seems silly when you put it into words, and mine is no exception. When given articulation it seems more passive than I'd like it to be, as if I'm doomed only to react to things and never to heroically prevail. On the other hand, maybe those negatives testify to the authenticity of the story. Maybe it comes from some common primal depth where survival is the ultimate value and where we all feel dumb panic and awe at the grand and magical nature of the world. Maybe, I'm not sure. At parties and restaurants over the years I've heard other personal myths that are different than mine. Many years ago a guy told me that he saw himself as a soldier ant who had to keep the other ants in line. I overheard a girl say that the love of friends is the ultimate value, no matter what sacrifices are called for. Last but not least...I don't personally know anyone who buys into this myth, but I know that it's out there because of biographies I've read...is the myth that kill or be killed is the rule. Mess up others before they mess you up. That sounds pretty harsh, but in the hands of someone who believes in reason and kindness it can produce someone with the necessary toughness to succeed. Interesting, huh?