Frodo Baggins, An Epic Tale, and Everyday Life

I bet you two cents that you didn't feel like you were part of an epic quest during your last lockdown.

Quite the opposite.

After all, a proper adventure usually involves a long physical journey to some faraway cloud castle and at least one epic battle and a case of doubt about the better angel of your nature who has conveniently forgotten to plug in their phone.

Now Frodo's journey in The Lord of the Rings, that's a proper adventure. It is crawling with battles and dark nights (and knights) of the soul. There are lands strange and unknown, monsters, betrayal, elves, dwarves, big gates to somewhere where things are not alright, and struggles over struggles. In the end, Frodo makes it through, but things have changed. He has changed and the world has changed. His companions had their own journeys and have grown into slightly different versions of themselves also. Even Sam, who seemed unwavering and unchangeable throughout, comes home a little more Sam than he left.

What's more, it took more than Frodo to make the journey. And yet, in the end, he had to go the last bit by himself. Sure, everyone helped him along 99% of the way and he would not have made it without his companions. But in the crucial moment, he had to gather the very last bit of himself to make it through, thus making the whole effort worthwhile.

What a journey. What an adventure.

It very much sounds like the week I've just had.

Or the last year and a half.

Or the other day when it was laundry day and you were out of cheese.

Never mind the year we've just had or the decade the year will stretch into.

In the end, the epic tale is only the simple story of everyday life taken to outrageous extremes. We all have journeys like Frodo's over and over again. Our monsters are smaller, our wizard friends are handy with electronics, the knights in shining armour come in the shape of professional cleaners while Galadriel's gifts look suspiciously like the screwdriver we use to tighten the loose bits in the dishwasher to make it run smoothly again.

Our life is made up of one epic tale after another. Over and over, we venture out to overcome the circumstances that threaten the summer-dreaming, merry peace in our personal Shire. We leave to make things right and we come home slightly changed. Slightly more of ourselves. Slightly weary but with a deeper appreciation for uncle Theudebald's Apple Cider and the soulfilling restfulness of Rosemerries backyard.

We'd never give ourselves the same credit we give Frodo. It's just a simple life, after all.

But without us, it wouldn't happen.