Moana And Harry Potter: Reframing Adolescence As The Heroine’s Journey

The stories of fictional characters like Moana and the Wizard of Oz’s Dorothy can help your daughter reframe her adolescent challenges as a normal part of her heroine’s journey and to relax and enjoy the process. Every adolescent girl must embark on this journey to discover new depths of courage, strength, hope, and resolve within herself that she can draw upon to overcome the challenges of growing up. SHOW NOTES: ·        Won’t grow in protected environments; growth as response to demands/challenges of experience·        Favorite books: Spinning Straw Into Gold, Original fairy tales, The Sound of a Silver Horn, She, The Witch Must Die, Joseph Campbell’s The Power of Myth and The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Women Who Run with the Wolves·        Call to adventure is a summons to leave old beliefs; Dorothy called to a larger life beyond her outmoded situation in Kansas; Rapunzel, Little mermaid, and Cinderella yearn to break loose from home even at the risk of losing their life.·        Our heroines usually meet a mentor who guides and encourages them on their quest. Mentors like Moana’s grandmother, Professor Dumbledore for Harry Potter, the good witch Glinda for Dorothy, and Gandalf for Frodo and Bilbo all saw more in our heroines before they could see it in themselves.·        Fictional young heroines must confront their deepest fears and face a series of dangerous encounters that tests their strength and resolve; must gain the strength and resources to survive and be ready to face the adult world·        Like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, girls must pull back the curtain of her limiting beliefs and conditioning and look inward to find her power and innermost resources.·        Your daughter must learn to get quiet and go inward to find her own truth and strength. She must learn to stop giving away her power just as Dorothy learned to hold onto her ruby slippers. And like Dorothy, girls must become aware that they have the power to realize their own heart’s desire.·        Fairy tales and fictional stories are a great vehicle to understand the trials and tribulations of both the story’s characters as well as your own. Girl’s feelings of discontent, restlessness, emptiness, uncertainty, anxiety, and despair can be normalized in the context of the heroine’s journey.·        Touch points: feel out of sorts, depression, anxiety, uncertainty, self-doubt = sign of growth, transformation, change·        What has called you? Any urges? What ignites your passion? What pulls you in a positive direction? Who helps you stay on course? What brings you joy, fills your heart, inspires you?·        Learn to have quiet, alone time to reflect, soul search, check in with her feelings and intuition; trust urges, understand touch points and heroine’s journey·        Descent into the maelstrom metaphor: What will you hold onto to get you thru tough times? Friends, mentors, and parents·        Reframe road of trials (college process) to road of adventures and excitement full of opportunities to grow, learn who they really are and what they’re capable of vs. focus on fears·        Help her find passions and friends she can hold onto to get her through the tough times. Like these heroines, your daughter can learn to master her emotions, face her fears, overcome challenges, and ultimately find and embrace the parts of herself that yearn to be expressed. Dr. Jordan’s contact info: www.drtimjordan.com If this podcast resonated with you and how you can support your daughter’s heroine’s journey, click on this link and get his book, Sleeping Beauties, Awakened Women: Guiding the Transformation of Adolescent Girls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices