Leading The Mythic Life with Jean Houston

Program Description

A new era is emerging for humankind. “We do not yet see it,” says Jean Houston, “but we can feel a new story in our bones. The hound of heaven is going, ‘woof, woof, woof!’ at our ankles in the morning.” Hear a cogent overview of how our old stories shaped our past, and what will replace them. With autobiographical anecdotes, Houston illustrates how each of us can help create the new world myth. “The hopes and dreams of the human race in the last millennia,” she says, “are focused on what is happening to us in our generation, now. We are living mythic lives.” Houston is an internationally known psychologist and speaker, and a pioneer of the human potential movement.

She is co-director of the Foundation for Mind Research, and the author of many books including A Mythic Life: Learning to Live Our Greater Story (HarperSanFrancisco 1996), and co-author of Manual for the Peacemaker (Quest 1995).

Topics Explored in this Dialogue:

• What myths tell us about our life situations
• How to become a “social artist”
• An image-making session with Joseph Campbell
• A full-moon experience at the Parthenon in Athens
• Houston’s friendship with Margaret Mead, and Mead’s last days
• Houston’s secrets of high-paced success
• A visit to Myanmar (Burma)
• Impressions of Hillary Clinton
• The mythology of “The Wizard of Oz”
• The meaning of “kairos” for our time

Program Number: 2560                     Host: Michael Toms                  Interview Date: 1/29/1996