Journeys ~ Leaving Home

The impulse to embark on a journey is a basic part of human nature. Our life cycle from birth to death can be considered a journey. Traveling to new frontiers like the Wild West or outer space has always attracted the adventurous. Heroes like Odysseus, Beowulf and the Knights of the Round Table all undertook dangerous journeys or quests. Sometimes people take journeys to new lands in order to make the personal journey of discovering who they are.

Whatever the reason for setting out, each journey involves leaving home. Sometimes heroes choose to leave their homes, and other times, people are forced into exile.

Young people eventually leave home as a natural part of growing up, while others run away when they are still children to escape their own difficult situations.

Stories that involve some kind of journey or quest follow a basic structure that includes each of the following elements:

o the reason for leaving
o breaking ties with the familiar
o feeling lost, adrift or lost in the wilderness
o facing danger or a struggle
o learning how to live in a new place
o accepting what has changed, both inside and outside

A fundamental structure is referred to as an archetype. The quest or journey archetype occurs frequently in ancient myths and legends. Good writers often draw upon these old patterns when they write their own stories.

This study investigates the journey that everyone eventually must undertake ~ the journey of leaving home.