Self-discovery explained

A "journey of self-discovery" refers to a travel, pilgrimage,^[1] or series of events whereby a person attempts to determine how they feel, personally, about spiritual issues^[2] or priorities,^{[3] [4]} rather than following the opinions of family, friends, neighborhood^[5] or peer pressure. The topic of self-discovery has been associated with Zen.^[6]

A related term is "finding oneself". There are different stages of finding oneself. Cultures from around the world have developed an array of modalities in the journey to discover oneself. In modern times practitioners and scientists have come together to create a map that brings clarity to the process of self-discovery. This is referred to as the levels of consciousness.

A journey of self-discovery is a popular theme in literature. It is sometimes used to drive the plot of a novel, play or film.^{[3] [7]}

Fiction

A journey of self-discovery is a popular theme in fiction.^{[3] [7]} Some films use similar phrases, such as in the film Petals: Journey Into Self Discovery (2008).^[8] The drama films Eat Pray Love (2010) and Life of Pi (2012) are also associated with the idea of a journey of self-discovery.^{[9] [10]}

Literature

• Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha (1922)^{[11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]}
• Jack Kerouac's On the Road (1957)
• Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses (1992)^[11]
• Yann Martel's Life of Pi (2001)
• Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones (2002)
• Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love (2006)
• Craig Thompson's Habibi (2011)
• Cheryl Strayed's (2012)

Film

• El Topo (1970) and The Holy Mountain (1973) by Alejandro Jodorowsky
• A film version of Siddhartha (1972)
• The Pillow Book (1996) by Peter Greenaway
• Samsara (2001) and Valley of Flowers (2006) by Pan Nalin
• Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003) by Kim Ki-duk
• Where the Wild Things Are (2009) by Spike Jonze
• Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010) and Cemetery of Splendour (2015) by Apichatpong Weerasethakul
• Avalokitesvara (2013) by Zhang Xin
• Voyage (2013), Utopians (2015) and Thirty Years of Adonis (2017) by Scud
• The Tree of Life (2011) by Terrence Malick
• The Red Turtle (2016) by Michaël Dudok de Wit
• Please Stand By (2017) by Ben Lewin
• Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts (2017) by Mouly Surya
• Humba Dreams (2019) by Riri Riza
• Nine Days (2020) by Edson Oda
• Wendy (2020) by Benh Zeitlin
• Soul (2020) by Pete Docter
• Nomadland (2020) by Chloé Zhao
• Across the River and into the Trees (2022) by Peter Flannery

Notes and References

1. "Pilgrimage takes anthropologist on journey of self-discovery", Princeton.edu, February 7, 2006
2. "Yeshiva University News - A Journey of Self-Discovery", Yeshiva University, February 12, 2010
3. "Film-inspired holidays: The Journey of self-discovery",The Guardian, 9 October 2010
4. "http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/Journey-of-self-discovery/articleshow/7451701.cms Journey of self-discovery
5. "'Elegy' journey of self-discovery", Chicago Tribune, 5 February 2002
6. "Surfer and Zen Master Discusses Journey of Self Discovery", KPBS.org, August 11, 2009
7. "The Pride" a 50-year journey of self-discovery" The Denver Post, May 12, 2011
8. "Petals: Journey Into Self Discovery (2008) - IMDb", IMDb.com, 2008, webpage: IMDb-1850.
9. Web site: Tomar . Sahil . Top 10 Inspiring Films to Rediscover Yourself and Find Clarity . Medium . 1 November 2023 . en . 27 July 2023.
10. Wagner . Rachel . Screening Belief: The Life of Pi, Computer Generated Imagery, and Religious Imagination . Religions . August 2016 . 7 . 8 . 96 . 10.3390/rel7080096. free .
11. Book: McNenny. Gerri. Fitzgerald. Sallyanne H.. Mainstreaming Basic Writers: Politics and Pedagogies of Access. June 2001. Routledge. 9781135658656. 15 January 2017. en.
12. Book: Lamb. James M.. BLACK. November 2013. Author House. 9781491823774. 15 January 2017. en.
13. Book: Learning. Gale, Cengage. A Study Guide for Hermann Hesse's "Siddhartha". 12 July 2016. Gale Cengage Learning. 9781410357915. 15 January 2017. en.
14. Web site: Billy Corgan is going to perform an eight-hour concert about Siddhartha. The A.V. Club. 15 January 2017. 18 February 2014.
15. Web site: Hughes. Jon. Hermann Hesse was one of the most iconoclastic of European authors. The Conversation. 15 January 2017.
16. Web site: Lessons from Literature: Siddhartha. The Georgetown Voice. 15 January 2017. 13 October 2016.