Joseph Campbell Workshop: Cri de Coeur (The Heart's Cry for Meaning)

Welcome to an Open Eye Boulder workshop to explore the idea of myth and why it is important to our lives. What is myth? Why bother? Why consider the mythic quality of everyday life? These questions and more will be presented and discussed on Saturday, January 30th from 9 am to 5 pm at eTown Hall (1535 Spruce St, Boulder, Colorado).

The Workshop will cover many of Campbell’s ideas regarding myth: including his overview of myth and religion, the hero’s journey and the personal inward quest for meaning, the feminine divine, eternity, and, of course, bliss.

Campbell’s main idea: It’s your life, not someone else’s. How do we navigate such a possibility?

Campbell believed that all human civilization centers on the yearning to experience a life of meaning---within our social group, but also as an individual. Workshop presenters will focus on the many different ways Campbell thought about this basic issue.

How in the world can Photographer/Presenter Steve O'Bryan create a relevent understanding of Campbell's concepts? By using the arts! Basic information will be interspersed with easily recognized video clips and songs to connect the dots. You will witness culture itself as a pathway to meaning.

“This workshop will include sight and sound experiences - short talks, discussions, music, spoken word, movement performances, video clips, art and photography,” said workshop facilitator Steve O’Bryan. “We will be having a group of writers, poets, and storytellers bring the concepts of Joseph Campbell to life.”

O'Bryan explains, “For example, we have a Buddhist teaching juxaposed with a Steve Martin song and a clip of Dances with Wolves as well as of the American Ballet Theater to demonstrate Campbell's ideas. We will also be using dance movement to express how Campbell was influenced by dance choreography and his wife, dancer Jean Erdman.

If you have ever wondered about Joseph Campbell's ideas or have been considering what brings meaning to one's life, O'Bryan sends a special invitation to you. 

Tickets: $90 in advance; $100 at the door; tickets are limited; food and beverages included.