My story's more like "the farmer's journey," where what is required of the hero is perseverance and faithfulness and working with what he's been given. Not that I'm an exemplar of those virtues; I've often been more of a "Look! A squirrel!" sort. But that seems more like the theme of my life. This incident or that can be shoehorned into the HJ model--I gather most stories can. But seriously...
The "farmer's" decisions are significant, the task takes effort, there's strain and pain sometimes--but they are spread out over years. I don't say one calling is better than the other (that's God's call about His callings), though one makes a livelier story than the other. Frodo would have starved to death long before Mordo without faithful farmers.
Farmer Maggot could tell that this mysterious Rider was up to no good--and he told Khamûl, the Shadow of the East, to take a long walk off a short pier. His wife gave the five hobbits provisions when they set out again. Without both of them, things would have gone a whole lot worse.
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