The Heroine's Quest at Mid-Life

SoulCollage® card, Crossing the Threshold

"Your life is a sacred journey. And it is about change, growth, discovery, movement, transformation, continuously expanding your vision of what is possible, stretching your soul, learning to see clearly and deeply, listening to your intuition, taking courageous challenges at every step along the way. You are on the path... exactly where you are meant to be right now... And from here, you can only go forward, shaping your life story into a magnificent tale of triumph, of healing of courage, of beauty, of wisdom, of power, of dignity, and of love." - Caroline Adams, Labyrinth

What is the Heroine’s journey? At midlife you may find there is a new quest going on, a search for fulfillment, meaning and purpose. The quest involves crossing the threshold into the unknown, a reclaiming of personal power through a descent to the Inner Feminine, and a return with new knowledge. Come explore the themes and archetypes ruling your story using SoulCollage®, visualization, myth and storytelling with Jennifer Boire, poet and author of The Tao of Turning Fifty.

We are the contemporary heroines seeking to answer the age old questions : Who am I? Where am I going? Where is my tribe? What is my purpose?

The mid-life quest is a journey to reclaim the sacred feminine values of intuition, rest and receiving inner knowing. Mid-life is often a time of reinvention, a time for reflecting on what has gone before and making conscious choices for the future. Midlife women are sometimes in a quandary: how to make a new life out of the old, or leave the old one behind, either physically, or metaphorically. It is not always comfortable to be in this transition phase.

Perhaps you are reinventing yourself, going back to school, starting a new business, caring for elderly parents, ending a life at home caring for family (empty nest), or moving back into your private space in search of rest, and re-emerging as a leader or elder. Some women experience a sense of shifting identities or feel old passions and dreams being reawakened. It is a fertile time, and a challenging one. You are not alone!

The midlife quest usually hits somewhere between the ages of 40-65, although it depends on your individual life situation. Menopause is often a trigger for many women and peri-menopause can last for 7-10 years! Then there’s the aging factor:  11,000 Baby Boomers turn 65 every day according to statistics from Dr. Christiane Northrup (2015), and that is another “road mark” on our cultural map of the life journey. Perhaps you wonder, as Mary Oliver asks, What will you do with your one wild and precious life? Meaning and purpose become paramount in the second half of life.

The Heroine's Journey (created with AI)

Mid-life Journey as Heroine’s Quest: There are several stages of the mythological quest, as laid out in Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey. The first stage of the heroic journey is the Call to Adventure – setting off into the unknown. Often this begins as a feeling of restlessness or dissatisfaction with the status quo. Our heroine will face challenges, meet allies, discover tasks that need doing before she descends into the abyss to face the (symbolic) dragons or demons who will help along her transformation (reawakening her connection to the Feminine ground of being). The circle closes as she returns with new found insights or gifts, with the help of her guides and Archetypes (angels, goddesses, mythical or spiritual aids).

Finally, she is ready to tell her story, and share her newfound knowledge with the world.

The Heroine's Quest On-Line Class begins in October: This class will help you reframe your personal story as an adventure or Quest, using the oldest written heroine story in mythology: The Descent of Inanna. The main tasks of the midlife journey will be revealed to you (naming, claiming and re-storying your story are some of them). You will be introduced to SoulCollage®, an intuitive, creative tool to help you process the stages of the journey and construct your story. At the end of the class, you will have new insights and appreciate the mid-life quest as a sacred task. You will gain a wider perspective on the shifts and changes that are happening in your life at this mid-point in the journey, and gain self-compassion also.

Using SoulCollage®, (www.soulcollage.com) a very simple, yet creative and intuitive  cut and paste collage method, we will create cards for different parts of self and helpful archetypes, and dialogue with them in our journals, to discover who our challengers and allies are, and discover the deeper layers of our life story and stages.

What is included in the 8-week Heroine’s Quest on-line class:

• Weekly 90 minute zoom class to learn about the stages of the Quest, to help you center and ground through visualizations, and connect in a circle of fellow journeyers for clarity and support

• Weekly journal prompts and card-making exercises to do on your own

• Inspiring poems to begin each class (e.g. Mary Oliver, David Whyte, John O’Donohue)

• Weekly zoom class will be recorded and downloadable for those who miss it (for a limited time). 90 minutes to two hours maximum per week.

• Private Facebook page to post card images and garner feedback, share your journey with like-minded participants

Testimonials from past participants of Heroine’s Quest classes (from 2016-2019):

“It’s fun to have a class to look forward to, and to be able to participate from the comfort of our own homes work for me!” S. Fouad.

“Getting feedback almost immediately [on Facebook page] is very encouraging and feeds a part that needs to know this is not a solitary journey even though it is very personal. Because this was a closed group, it felt safe to express things that I would not necessarily have said elsewhere. The materials, the guidance, and input really opened a door, and showed me the way to pursue this journey!” L. Rondeau.

GET STARTED ON YOUR QUEST!

For details and to sign up, visit: https://www.jenniferboire.com/soulcollage-r.

Retreats & Classes page. 8 week-online class costs $194.00. Sign up before Sept. 24 for the Early bird rate of $179.

Details: 90 minute Zoom meeting, Tuesday evenings at 7:00 pm EST. Begins Oct 08, 2024. Ends Nov. 26, 2024

SoulCollage® card: Listening within

"In terms of the Heroine's Journey, a woman who has over identified with the masculine culture has sacrificed something of great value to herself--her feeling and creative functions-- which she must then journey inward to reclaim."  Maureen Murdock, The Heroine’s Journey

“The story of Inanna is an archetype for women’s psycho-spiritual growth. .... It is a pattern for the heroine’s journey that is quite distinct from the kind of stories that portray the ‘hero’s journey’. In Jason and the Golden Fleece, for example, the man who aspires to grow must set out on a journey where he vanquishes the dragon and overcomes the obstacles alone. He is the prototypical warrior, journeying beyond the known world to bring back something of value for himself and its other inhabitants. But Inanna cannot make the journey of transformation alone. Her path to wisdom and her divine birthright as the goddess of love is one in which friends are the key components. Without them she would not survive.” A Woman’s Journey to God, Joan Borysenko