I'm 29, holding a one-way ticket to another country with my guitar, a bag of CDs and a dream.
"What the hell am I doing?"
Flashback only a few months and I'm sitting in an underground carpark ticket booth, controlling the boom gate for those who shall or shall not pass. It wasn't the “living the dream" I had hoped for. Any 29-year-old would probably say the same. But paying the rent, as a struggling actor, musician, office-temp, all at once, meant doing jobs I didn't love.
But I'd had enough of that.
So I kept working on my lyrics. Between raising and lowering the bar on the executives beginning their day at the high-rise office building I sat in the bowels of, I created. I kept doing what I could, where I was.
My dream of becoming a songwriter and singer may have been slipping away but I was holding on for dear life. Fingernails.
You see, a few years previously I'd discovered the work of Joseph Campbell, the famous mythologist who advised us to "follow your bliss." To find out what you are so passionate about that nothing could stop you doing it. Do that.
And it helped. Campbell's wisdom about the hero's journey we are all on, and the archetypes we encounter along the way, resonated loudly in me. I wanted to find my hero within and follow MY bliss.
I remember one day after finishing that job (which required me to wear a suit and tie) walking down a main city street, ripping off that tie while carrying my guitar around my neck. I was so pissed off with what my life had become I didn't care anymore who saw me or what they thought. I was literally taking my music to the world. And these were my first steps. A mad man singing to no one and everyone.
The next step was breaking up with my girlfriend. She was ready to start a family; I wasn't. I loved her, but I knew I wouldn't be a good father and husband if I ignored what my heart was telling me. And it was saying… follow your bliss.
I even called my first album Bliss. Recorded with the last of my savings, I pressed a bunch of CDs (the latest tech at the time) and bought a one-way ticket to London in hopes of making it big.
As Campbell would have noted The Seeker in me was taking charge. That archetype doesn't ask "is this safe”. It asks "is this true to who I actually am." And it felt true in my bones.
But I was scared too. I remember my brother took me to the airport, and as I hugged him and said goodbye, some part of me instinctively knew I wouldn't see him for a long time. It turned out I would be gone for six years. The Sage within understood, though. This was part of what makes any adventure such a valuable experience: the willingness to commit to a new world, and a new life.
When I arrived in London I headed for Camden Town. I'd visited briefly on a previous trip to England working as an actor, and I knew it was considered the centre of music there. The only job I could get was washing dishes in a pub and doing short-order food orders — frying chips, microwaving jacket potatoes. But it was there I met a bartender who let me sleep on the floor of his flat, for about a third of what I earned in the greasy pub kitchen.
From there it was a truly classic tale of a hero's journey. The tests, allies and enemies showed up one by one.
Noticing a vacant upstairs room at The Lock Tavern (the pub I worked in) I started a singer/songwriter night called Acoustic Trip. It became a big success attracting hundreds of songwriters and singers who were just like me, chasing a life of music. It was so successful I was able to quit washing dishes and focus full time on writing and recording songs.
This was my kind of heaven.
I met my friend Masa, a fellow Seeker who had travelled all the way from Japan via New York to follow his dream of making music too. He was also one of the best songwriters I have ever met. I deepened my friendship with an old actor friend, David, who introduced me to his family (I briefly dated his sister) and taught me about the patois and vernacular of the land. He was from Middlesbrough, in the far north, and I was amazed to learn how differently people spoke from one city to the other — even close towns like Sunderland and Newcastle having their own unique ways of communicating.
I also met the beast of the music industry. In truth, that is what appealed to me about Camden; I thought if I wanted to understand the "animal" of the business, I had to take a good hard look at the underbelly.
And it wasn't pretty.
There were, of course, the drugs and alcohol and sex. But there was also something I hadn't expected…in the form of dark magic.
One night at Acoustic Trip I met a one-eyed woman who said I should go to a certain church in the centre of the city, and "pray" for my music fortune. When I naively did what she suggested, I had one of the most disturbing encounters of my life, feeling as though a dark entity was trying to take control of my soul, enticing me to sacrifice part of myself to continue down this road of fame and fortune.
But I didn't.
For me that was the shadow Seeker showing its face. The version of the soul’s search that will trade anything, even itself, just to keep moving. Somehow, even with my eyes closed in prayer, I recognised it.
And I said no.
When any deal that seemed too good to be true came along, I quickly realised that's because it was. And my own inner-truth grew louder. I listened to the wise Ruler within, who grew in strength and confidence the more my personal authority was challenged. The more easy roads presented themselves, the more I chose the hard one.
Was I sabotaging myself, or saving myself? I believe the latter.
And I had to learn to fight for my life. For my soul. The Warrior within came more and more to life. But not before facing the dark night of my soul. I remember being on the tube, not knowing where I was going to sleep that night, because I was down to my last few pounds and didn't know who I could call, having already benefited from the kindness of so many. I desperately wanted to stand on my own two feet but I kept falling. And falling. I felt truly lost. The despair was like nothing I'd ever known. A world worse than the feelings of failure from working in an underground carpark.
Somehow, I kept going. I kept looking for the way back to my bliss.
Looking back now I can see that the Seeker archetype has always been the leader in my life. Something that I recently confirmed by doing the Archetype Design test. But without nurturing the other archetypes, I would never have lived half of the adventures I have.
The Creator came with me on my one-way ticket to London, a bag of freshly pressed CDs of my own songs the proof. Then this archetype gave me more ideas and inspired Acoustic Trip; a much more aligned way for me to pay the rent.
The Lover showed me how passionate I was about music and connecting with people through songs.
The Innocent gave me the belief that I actually could reach the whole world doing what I love.
The Orphan helped me face the fear and vulnerability of being alone and far from home.
And the Magician turned an inner vision into a fully lived, deeply valued reality: a dream into a new life.
What I returned with was much more than fame and fortune. It was a feeling that God did have a plan for me — one grander than the one I had for myself.
The day after returning from six years in London, I met the woman who would become my wife and partner for almost 22 years and counting. We have three exceptionally talented, creative and beautiful daughters. And I know now I would have hated being on the road as a famous touring musician. The bigger dream for me turned out to be a dad who works from home.
I do what I love every day. My life of exploring the hero’s journey, archetypes, music and language led to me being an author, coach and creator of healing frequency hypnotherapy. And I have the extra bonus of knowing I have truly followed my dreams. I am grateful every day for where my dreams led me, and where they always were leading me…
Bliss.
I first read Campbell's words about the hero's journey and its archetypes more than 30 years ago. Underlining passages, taking notes, immediately certain I understood something important. And I did, in the way you understand a map before you've walked the country it describes. But knowing an archetype from a page is not the same as knowing them the way I know the Seeker now: from the inside, having handed him the wheel and nearly lost everything to a version of his shadow in a church I was lucky to walk out of.
It's not the same as knowing the Orphan the way I know him. Not as a concept, but as the voice that kept me small in a carpark booth, and later, as the ache I carried alone on a night tube with nowhere to sleep.
That's the authority I bring to this work now. Not thirty years of study alone (though that's in there too) but the lived experience of all twelve archetypes, empowered and shadow both, tested against an actual life.
That's what I want to hand you.
If you would rather discover where your dream leads than spend the rest of your life wondering then buy your ticket. The first ever Author Your Life: Archetype Design program begins next week. It is limited to 12 people only, and will introduce you to the hero within, and the 12 archetypes you need to know to fully follow your bliss.
Your bliss may lead you to another country. It may lead you to a blank page, a difficult conversation, or a completely different version of yourself. But it will always ask you to go on your own adventure.
If you are ready…let’s begin.
Ben Grant Mitchell
Author of Your Word Is Law
Founder, Grant Empowerment
Creator of P.A.T.H. Coaching™, B.A.M. Coaching™ and Archetype Design