We Don't Need Another Hero
We already know the way home
It could be argued that the archetype of the hero is becoming obsolete and it is high time for sages and wisdom bearers. Heroes and villains are only diametric in stories; in reality, they need each other to exist, for what is a hero without a monster to slay? Eventually, heroes grow egos. Heroes crave martyrdoms. Heroes are slaves to their legacy.
Heroes are messy.
Heroes lose their heads often because they can’t see the story outside of the role they play in it and on a rare occasion, they lose their heads literally when the wind blows too hard in February in Metropolis, IL. Almost a little too indicative of the state of hero affairs, if you ask me.
Now, I have no doubts that humanity has needed its heroes as we got squeezed from one level of evolution into another. Throughout our civilization’s history there have been individuals who saw just a bit more of reality than the rest and they tried to help others do so too; natural born leaders who might have not even wanted the job, but they did it anyway the best they could. Unfortunately, we (the civilizational ‘we’) tended to show our gratitude by calling them heretics and bringing about their premature deaths. We were in the toddler stage of our evolution; we threw a lot of tantrums. Fine.
However, as our consciousness and awareness expanded, a bigger, more encompassing reality emerged. A lot more shapes got to be recognized and rotated. So now we have loads more people exiting Plato’s cave. Can’t kill us all.
Last month when Mathew Crawford talked about decentralized leadership, I got to thinking that that process has actually already begun, even if the world has no metric with which to measure its impact because it spent too long killing or corrupting its heroes. The world has forgotten. But each individual remembers. Deep down, each and every one of us, knows the way home. Deep down, we know the courage it takes to do the right thing at the right time.
But instead of the archetype of the hero taking on this leadership role, it’s that of the wise (wo)man/the sage/the teacher who are to lead with integrity and compassion. Not for fame or fortune or clout but to be of service to their fellow travelers, to help humanity grow into the grandest coming-of-age story yet.
I used to believe in the hero story. I believed that some people were made of better stock or something, like your genes had some secret courage DNA. That those of us that aren’t courageous should just follow those that are. But when I look back at my adult life, I’ve always somehow found myself in leadership positions. Not because I particularly wanted to be there, but because I wanted to see something that benefited the community come to fruition. Along the way, I have, on occasion, found myself in dangerous situations which I’ve felt compelled to resolve. In those times, I don’t remember being me. Someone else comes to operate my avatar as I watch from a third person perspective, almost entirely removed emotionally. I’ve broken up fights, I’ve chased perpetrators down empty subway platforms, I’ve jumped in bodies of water with my clothes on to prevent drownings. And as far as I can tell, there’s no way whoever is at my helm would even let a goldfish flounder to death.
You don’t have to be a leader to leave your foot prints in the sands of time. You just have to get off your ass because well, no one wants to leave their ass prints in the sands of time. Just do that which is yours to do. It doesn’t need to be heroic. The sage in you already knows how to get home.
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Western culture has become obsessed (whether consciously or unconsciously, given it has been fuelled largely by Hollywood propaganda) with The Hero's Journey archetype. We must save those poor black Africans from poverty; we must save those poor white Eastern Europeans from those nasty brutish Ruskis; we must save our poor immunocompromised from psychopathic germs! As usual, the problem is externalising a truth that should be applied in the personal domain: we are our own heroes, and if we can just be content with that, maybe we can inspire others to do the same as well.
Due to what we have witnessed over the past couple of years, I have come to question every trope and repeated story coming out of Hollywood in particular. I am hence wondering if the purpose of these hero stories is so we wait for someone to come to save us, and don't take any action ourselves, until it is too late?