05/19/2026
THE ROAD BACK
This 10th stage in The Hero’s Journey marks the hero’s return to the Ordinary World with the Elixir (hard-won knowledge meant to serve their community). But the road back is perilous; the hero is still pursued by old enemies.
At this point in my journey, I had made meaningful progress by befriending and taking custody of my inner child (The Reward). Yet I was still pursued by harsh internal criticism and sadness rooted in perceived failures—struggling to take off as an artist, leaving Seattle and Oaxaca City, and a failed romantic relationship. I was living at my mom’s house, teaching English online while writing, painting, and singing. Art became a way to transmute self-criticism (arrows) into self-compassion (passion flowers), guided by a shift in awareness (the third eye of the owl).
When I heard about the mineral pigment paintings of Alexander Fals in Naples, I drove an hour to his opening. His paintings were warm like the sun—I loved the earth pigments and his playful style. When we met, we immediately clicked. Within months—just as COVID shut down the world—we chose to live and quarantine together. That first summer, we stayed in lake country on the land of dear friends, immersed in both the beauty and emotional turbulence of intimacy. Isolation magnified everything, but we stayed committed to honesty and growth.
During this time, I felt a deep tension between my unconscious (night, moon) and conscious (day) mind. An inner eye of awareness had opened, observing my behaviors and their consequences—but old patterns returned the moment I lost attention. I could see that if I didn’t transform (snake) the fear and criticism that surfaced under pressure, I would continue to self-sabotage. The key represents the next level of growth—something not given, but unlocked through awareness.
This piece holds that fragile threshold—the moment of seeing clearly, without yet being free.
Painted as always with 100% hand-foraged clay, mineral carbon and soft stone from Cauca, Colombia.
