Hero. It's one of the most used - and overused - words in Western culture. It seems like everyone and their mother is a "hero" for some reason or another. Perhaps you looked at the title of this podcast and thought something along the lines of "It's a show about finding the hero within..." Well, it wouldn't be inaccurate to say that's what the show is about. But it's far more than that. The great Joseph Campbell, most famous for his magnum opus Hero With a Thousand Faces, often used the metaphor of the "hero" of the story entering a special world wherein he slays a dragon, or endures a dark, deep pit and ultimately finds personal redemption which he then uses to bring enlightenment to his friends, family and followers in the real world. That's all well and good for a comic book, a movie, a TV series. It makes for good entertainment, and at its absolute best inspires us to make some sort of improvement in our own earthly lives. But how does it apply to the real world? How many dragons do you slay at the office, or answering emails for your solopreneur venture? Truth be told, not many. Sure, you've got to put out fires here and there, maybe deal with an angry client. But are they fire-breathing dragons? No. They're human beings just like you and me, fighting the same inward passions as us. Aha! The Passions. Perhaps you're not familiar with the term "passions" as I'm referring to. I mean the inward emotions, the ego, the drive within us. Just like anything, they can be used for good or not so good purposes. Have you ever been cut off on the highway and you react with uncontrollable rage? A moment goes by, and you wonder who in the world was that that just reacted that way? That person just needed to get from Point A to Point B, and she was about to miss her exit. Why would you get angry at her? The conventional wisdom tells us that our reaction on the road is really a reaction to something that is angering us but has been suppressed. That singular incident causes the suppressed anger to boil over. That may be right, but what to do about it? The Passions. THAT is the real dragon to slay in our own "real world." Those that have the moral fortitude to confront and subdue the ego, pride, vanity, envy, avarice are the true heroes, Campbell tells us. And they come in all shapes and sizes. Teachers, entrepreneurs, clergy, male, female, black, white, and everything in between. The Unwitting Hero is he or she who has heroically confronted their own passions and strives daily to subdue them, or to channel them into building something of lasting value. People like this don't attract a lot of attention. They're not trying to, and they really don't need to. THAT is what this show is about, and I'm glad you're here! James D. Newcomb - Founder and Host, The Unwitting Hero