The individual odyssey: Hero

What is a hero? Who qualifies? 

From ancient mythology it is the strong who battles the beast, the one who faces impossible odds and dives into what must be done despite inadequacies, in the face of fear. They do not do this for fame nor reward although they may come. They may not want to at all and are often reluctantly thrust into the role. But, they perform, they act because they must - for if not them, then who?

It is a compulsion and they do it to save those under threat, those facing the battles but seemingly incapable of victory, forced to flee or frozen in fear. They do it for space, they do it to create opportunity. They do it because without that space, without opportunity, they know all is lost.

The modern hero is no different and the fireman, the soldier and the good samaritan that risks life and limb to protect life and in so doing, create the space for them to develop and grow. But as with all things, this picture is incomplete, it is a half view. 

The battle need not be a physical one, the beast need not be seen. There are those that hunt in the depths of a microscope for the enemy, those tearing into genetic code for the cause of disease. There are others tackling economic struggle or doing their best to inspire minds frozen by the fear of the dark. but, the results are the same.

Heroes make the space for others to live and they may never know if what they do is successful. They follow the footsteps, walk into the darkness others fear and clear it so it can no longer be used as an excuse for inaction. 

The heroes of old did not save the people from the  beast, they faced their own demons. They are stories of self-overcoming, individualism, struggle to leave the security of the ego and risk it all to increase possibility. In the wake of their quest to find themselves, people benefited but that was a byproduct, not the story itself.

The illustration was that anyone can do it and what the hero does is demonstrate this possibility. It is not easy, it takes training and skill and investment into the voyage and there will come many wounds. These wounds are not limiting, they are empowering, they are what builds the character, makes a life unique, valuable and space creating. 

The experience of pushing into the dark lights the way for others but at some point, others must light their own torches to carry on. All legends need  struggle and strife and the willingness to push on even when destruction, failure and loss are inevitable.

The stories we tell ourselves of what is valuable in this world, what is important, meaningful and worthy of our time and effort is rarely so. There are beasts in our mind we must face, battles in our society that must be waged. This is not about violence and oppression, it is about freedom and opportunity and if we discover what this means, all benefit and all see that they too are part of the odyssey. 

The journey of discovery will deliver as many trials as it does triumphs, it will cover ground parents feared to tread, destroy monsters that have attacked the villagers for millennia. And it is a journey taken from within and it is a competition that has no victor, as you cannot win when playing alone. 

There is more to this world than we see, more to us than we believe, more at play than we are told. The world is a mess, society is conflicted. We are that world, we are that society and it is not something external that has created this, it is us as individuals who act within its program, or fail to act against it. It is us who are waiting for a hero but, what happens if that hero does not exist?

More importantly, what if that hero is you?

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
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