Finding my Voice
“So that’s it?” I said. “All seven habits?”
“Almost,” said Iman, holding up a long, scrawny finger. “There’s also an Eighth Habit.”
“What’s that? Always write a sequel?”
“Of sorts,” Yewell laughed in a bubbly chuckle. “As Dr. Covey explained it, the Eighth Habit is to ‘Find Your Voice and Inspire Others to Find Theirs.’ So if you find something you feel the need to say and can’t quite finish it in one volume, a sequel’s not a bad idea.”
“Seems like a good idea to me,” I said. “Is that what this is all about? My remembering the whole Estralarian Mind Meld?”
“We thought it would be a good idea to revisit what we shared with you in the outside world, but bring it a little bit closer to home,” said Iman.
“You don’t expect me to rehash the whole story of my trying to turn Sarasota into a marketing mecca, do you? Because that idea hasn’t really caught on yet.”
“All things in due time,” assured Yewell. “But while we’re waiting…”
“Please don’t tell me we’re going back to the Stone Age again,” I said.
“Oh, no,” said Iman,” nothing like that. We’re going to take you where you’ve already been, but we’re not so concerned about the places.”
“But you still want me to write the world, right?”
“Only if it helps you to find your voice,” said Yewell.
“So what’s the plan?” I asked.
“We’re glad you asked,” said Iman. “You see, since your kind has learned to communicate, your various cultures have all developed different methods for describing the human condition. Sometimes these methods have been delivered through the teachings of a single person, and sometimes they have been developed by an entire society. What we hope for you is that you will allow us to share these paradigms with you to show others that although you may use different ideologies, the heart of your journey is the same.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. “Like we’re all on the same path using different signposts?”
“We couldn’t have said it better ourselves,” said Yewell.
“Okay,” I said. “So where do we start?”
“Considering that we just took you through the first of the paradigms with Dr. Covey’s Eight Habits,” Iman continued, “we want to continue with what he calls the Four Roles of Leadership.”
“You see, Steve,” Yewell added, “the Four Roles Dr. Covey wrote about are mirrored in a number of other paradigms.”
“Like what?”
“The Four Natural Elements.”
“Jung’s Four Archetypes.”
“The Four Aspects of Humanity.”
“The Four Suits of Cards.”
“Not to forget the CARDS devised by your friend Gale Fulton Ross.”
“You’re bringing Gale into this?” I asked. “But we haven’t even finished the book.”
“As we said,” Yewell assured, “all things in due time.”
“Is that it?” I asked.
“Not remotely,” said Iman. “You see, all of this is grounded in what Joseph Campbell called The Hero’s Journey. Each of you is on it though you may not even be aware of it.”
“In other traditions,” Yewell added, “it is also known as the Fool’s Journey.”
“That doesn’t sound too promising,” I said.
“Well, you’ve all got to start somewhere,” he assured.
“Though each of you takes his or her own journey toward becoming your own hero,” said Iman, “as a whole, humanity is ascending what David Hawkins called the Stages of Consciousness.”
“Nevertheless,” added Yewell, “as we said, every culture has their own way of describing this journey. The Christian tradition you’re so familiar with follows a path called the Romans Road.”
“Buddhists call it the Four Noble Truths.”
“Hindus describe it through the Seven Chakras.”
“Some even find the path through Numerology.”
“Several groups follow Twelve Steps to gain their freedom.”
“Jewish mystics study what they call the Tree of Life.”
“Quite recently, the idea has been conveyed through a book called The Celestine Prophecy.”
“Yet, psychologists have developed their own concepts like Erik Erickson’s Stages of Development and Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs.”
“Wow,” I said. “You’re going through a lot of trouble to help me find my voice.”
“We believe you’ve got a lot to say,” said Iman.
“What about the second part?” I asked. “How am I going to help others find their voices?”
“You only need to inspire them to find it,” said Yewell. “That’s why we want to start with the Four Roles of Leadership. Are you ready?”
“Do I have a choice?” I asked.
“You always have a choice. That’s why there are so many paths.”
