In my previous days of teaching ninth grade English Literature classes, I would talk with students about the different stages of the Hero’s Journey (I wish there were a non-gendered word for that.) Anyway… as we would read through parts of The Odyssey, Homer's Epic poem from ancient Greece, we would try to make sense of the actions and words of the main character, Odysseus. 

Odysseus sets out on a quest with challenges, dark times, and uncertainty ahead. His ego gets in the way. His flaws prevent him from getting back home. At one point, the journey takes him to an Abyss. In the story, the Abyss is the literal underworld and in order to escape, he must transform. It is imperative for our hero to change his ways, his mindset, and his understanding of his place in the world if he ever hopes to make it back home. 

Metaphorically, we can understand the abyss as the challenging, dark places we come to on the journey of our own lives. Just like...