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.
Yes, and once the hero has finished her journey, achieved her quest and got the ring and the crystal, what then? Like the terror and infighting after a revolution or victorious soldiers who can't cope with peace, if the hero is not living her life for its own sake, what will she be? Say everyone lives in plenty and peace and are protected from germs (hey she got that illusion down already!) the heroes and leaders have no one who needs them. Better to desire the moment right now.
It seems to me that heroic efforts are required to live a moral life in this realm. Leaving comfortable world views behind in favour of the truth is heroic. Overcoming trauma is heroic. Leaving abusive, parasitic relationships is heroic. Losing family and friends by sticking to fundamental ethical principles is heroic. That's why, presumably, the Hero's Journey is cyclical... and why those moments of peace between efforts must be savoured and appreciated, as you say Jo.
yes I agree facing trauma and shame really hurts and giving ourselves compassion takes courage. Crying alone in bed at night is heroic - but so very different from what we've been taught a hero does.
Apr 25, 2023·edited Apr 25, 2023Liked by Visceral Adventure
Yes, Visceral.
I've been exploring this hero theme too, recently. My realisation is that the hero archetype (theme, idea, manifestation) requires a victim. No victim, no hero.
Great for things like rescues, when there really are people in danger. Not great, and even highly inappropriate when it comes to an evolving human species and their changing manifestations of culture and civilisation.
Synchronicity? I used Tina's great song in my recent post, too.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I enjoyed them.
Lol, re insightful rants! Yes, the good vs bad stories make GREAT theater! I'm also 100% for other stories too--like them ya mentioned! There are many that ARE compelling--but I think we need them all includin' old stories of heroes (we like Swedish Fairy Tales 'specially and the heroes were often the underdogs--the foolish little brother, the non-greedy "dummy" and all that). But yes, there are so many GOOD stories that are not about heroes at all (includin' my favorite modern musical that I suggested ya watch--One From the Heart--no heroes, a great tale of love and flawed humans who still can dance). I think you are fightin' tho--with words and thoughts and fresh ideas! Perhaps it's an odd "joy" but speaking up an' out and making stuff IS a good FIGHT for humanity! Now there's an idea fer something--a battle with pens an' mouths--mebbe animated? Defeatin' (de-feet-in') those armed with jabs n' nukes... hmmm. Last thought---redemption (which has it's religious component too...) is often an' also a "construct" no less powerful (no less potentially manipulative) than hero tales... The "reframin' " can be GREAT but it also can put out a pick-chur just as arty-fish-all.... So let's keep tellin' many tales and (thankfully) it's in the diss-cussin' (funny, no?)--discussing--that we figger out what applies to our real lives, what is too fabulous or fabricated--what resonates... Ach, my ol' semiotic brain gits into these weeds, ol' stompin' ground--but the pernt is... we can still embrace old fictions (which were always so!) and yet birth the new --which brings us to STOPPIN' the crush down of fertility--cuz it ain't just the vaxxxines making folks "infertile"--it's the polly-tix an' the mockin' birds cuz stories are now an' always a FERTILE field! Keep on plantin' !!!
Must have missed this before. I’m down to have stories with heroes in them. They’re exciting and make for great action thrillers. But can we normalise stories in which there are no devils and no angels either - just the messy and the sublime and the reverend. I can get inspired by basic shit. 😂
fer sure! we need it all wayz I think--an' it all can be inspirin' (the basic, the complee-gated)... I LOVE the ordinary too (movie-wise The Quiet Girl fits right in there...it's beautiful!...a tad melancholy). Anti-heros, underdawgs, an' just messed up slice-o-life stories (me n' my girls just watched Five Easy Pieces, a great actors' actors film--with no heroes in sight... never one borni' moment there...). But fer all've us kinda rootin' fer Bobby Jr (ta bring this idear home)--there IS that frisson 've hope--could he save the day? Are we dang fools to carry some hope? A little? I know I know--it's just his chance ta speak (speak out) cuz gettin' the nom is a longshot... But there ya go, lil' superman/hero idears peep up in spite of "sober" good advice.
As Alice sings (in Wonderland) "I give myself VERY good advice but I VERY seldom follow it.." -- so some've us (most) hope for heroes EVEN when we might know should know do know a tad better! Funny creatures 'r we!
Funny, your last Alice reference reminds me of a few years ago, I was at the playground with my twins and they were playing with this toddler who was way more articulate than my boys. They were playing hide and seek. And at one point, the little girl sat by me and I asked her why she wasn’t out looking for my boys and she looks me dead in the eyes and says “sometimes I like hiding for a long time so I can go find myself” 😆
Yet again, despite being a subscriber, I didn't receive notice of this post. Yeah, we don't need heroes and I'd always thought Campbell's interpretation of The Hero's Journey applied to storytelling/mythology and, like someone else has commented, was a metaphor for our own battles and growth. People don't need leaders either but some WANT them. And perhaps, like you, I found myself unwillingly in that position many a time. I think the last three years have taught us that the majority want to be told what to do. That is massively irritating, nay disturbing, for the likes of people here because that lets the psychopaths in. If people want leaders there's always going to be some control freak to step up. Plato's Cave is alive and well. I, for one, am tired of telling those inside that there is an outside and 'heroically' trying to save them. It sails dangerously close to rescuing and what's the point if they're not shouting 'au secours.'
The hero archetype to inspire us to be happy. And yet, without victim, there can't be a hero. So, at its core, the hero archetype by necessity creates the victim.
Hollywood has set us up for this! And the 'cabal' are that archetype on steroids! Create a 'tragedy' and be the hero. Interesting.
Joseph Campbell would take great umbrage with that, I'm sure. From my yoga world, opposite values are complementary. The one requires the other. This is a particular formulation, perhaps, of what the Buddhist call dependent arising; the 'reality' that without everything, there isn't anything. We exist because everything else exists, which includes, OMG!, this darn nasty cabal. Life is amazing.
Yes. In samkhya cosmology, the irritant was the beginning of creation. Without it inertia keeps us comfortable in our sugar coated cages/prisons. Fascinating process.
Wonderful essay, Tonika! Followed by equally wonderful comments. Thank you for laying out this concept in such an honest, compassionate, and entertaining manner. The headless Superman is laughably perfect, and the "ass-prints in the sands of time" phrase (as others have noted) is gold.
In 2016, I was so bugged by assertions on the left or the right that their leader was the "hero," that I wrote a short piece entitled "Electing the Wizard," that reminded people that politicians at that level are ALL just stage-managed, highly scripted actors. What I failed to notice in that essay is something you point out: we need EACH OTHER. The four main characters in the Wizard of Oz worked together, applying their individual talents to the problems at hand.
Another recent aha moment for me was discovering the Heroine's Journey, which is similar to the well-known hero's journey but more collaborative in nature.
And then there's Servant Leadership, which also is something you describe without calling it that. Hmmm... I think I need to write an essay in response to yours! You've opened a door in my head and heart, clearly. As always :-)
I would very much love to read that essay, Mary, and these other concept you mention which I’m sure will keep providing more pieces to the grand puzzle. And can you please link to the “Electing the Wizard” piece? Is it out somewhere?
It's the first thing I wrote on Medium, right before Trump was elected. It's very short. I think I might take a note from my previous self and pare down my essays... :-)
Loved this, and YES, we are transcending that hero / villain paradigm, aren't we. Well, we can see where that gets us. One of the things this time is requiring of us, is to individually, take on our own journey, face our fears, shed our illusion and decide what are we willing to stand up for. No hero coming. Beautiful, wise, very sage-like. Thank you!
I have a feeling that inner piece - where we are 'know' the way home - is what's surfacing and coming into play in a big way - as the external world comes down. (Well, in some cases, not all) That we won't be able to navigate without that connection. The lopsided reliance and conditioning to experts and authority has to go, obviously. Sorta like taking the training wheels off finally and steering yourself.
Quite right. Agency and sovereignty come with self custody and that can only be effective if we focus attention and awareness. So, gotta wake up and pay attention. Not a novel concept but so removed from our dominant societal existence where every thing is designed to distract you.
I have felt us move into the archetype of community for a while now, the heroic age being long and gone. which doesn't mean a loss of leadership just a loss of a top down flow and a move into the grid network which takes into account the interconnectedness of all things. here's a great podcast about someone who archetypically fits very much into the engineer mindset of 1+1 linear thinking but who has remarkably moved into his right brain and formed one planet living and systems thinking. its quite exciting!
the episode following is also about a very dynamic group of people who do massive work and compromise of only 4 people, all equal in reciprocation however with a definite leader, because his job is to point the direction. a refreshing take on how leadership is simply a part of the process rather than the all powerful hero's journey. also very inspiring and I am excited that this is becoming more of the common mindset of folks as well as the grace that within all this decentralisation we have to respect that if we are to decide what we can do we have to respect others doing the same.
'You just have to get off your ass because well, no one wants to leave their ass prints in the sands of time.' This needs to be engraved on something big and important.
I’m sure I’m ripping off a quote somewhere. I used this sentiment in a solo performance decades ago, when it meant something different to me back then, when I was reading lots of motivational literature. Lots of spiritual bypassing on my end. I hope I’ve sufficiently grown out of that phase.
"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."
Wow, YES. This made me cry and I am reflecting on why. I think it’s two dimensions: 1) I tried to be a “hero” and change my employer’s vax policy, and share info with friends about early treatment for covid. What happened? One person blamed me for her father’s death, though he died pre vaxes, bc the hospital would not give iver or proper treatment - which I gave her information about. (She later told me she would think about my choice not to be vaxed at her dad’s funeral, bc my choice would kill people like him). Ouch. And I was only able to save myself at work, as told here
Reading this brings up sadness inside of me. I’m sorry to hear how much abuse you’ve endured. It’s no consolation, I know, but your experiences are recorded in the morphic field that helps change the truth we live. As the terrible experiences add up, mass perception changes. Thank you for suffering through it. That, in itself, was heroic.
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?
Yes, Gary, I’ve come to the same conclusion, and I’m in the entertainment business. Or was. I can’t take the fiction story lines any more. I haven’t watched much fiction except Bluey (which, I must say, is the best children’s show I’ve seen). Anything Marvel or comic book remake makes me want to puke. Trite, insincere, hokey. We learn to rely on heroes because it’s what movies teach us. We learn about sex through porn. We learn about relationships through shows like “Cheaters”. 🤮
I like this take on things...'specially since you mention leaders as I've seen "leaderless" efforts go full-chaos in more'n one case... There is a call for leaderless parallel societies but I don't see havin' a leader as sumthin' terribly un-Havel-y.
As you said, a future minus the hero is a different way to think'a things--a good one--AND a way to shy away from all this baloney twaddle about "trustin' " the experts and turning experts (who really shit in the pot like all've us)--folks with with feet'a clay (or cloven hooves ha ha!).... into heroes... The literal novena candles to "Saint Tony Fauci" were so wretch-worthy that it reveals just how insane an' dangerous this "hero worship" has become...
So in theory, without "heroes" each person again becomes responsible for themselves--and their own (friends, family, greater community etc)--a good thing I think!
Now there are folks "workin' " this plandemic--Dr Zev Zelenko an' Dr Mike Yeadon an' Sasha Latypova fer example--that I consider "heroes" (I actually wrote back'a ways about Jewish plandemic heroes here: https://thcsofdaisymoses.substack.com/p/jewish-heroes-of-the-plandemic-a ) but my thinkin' of them as heroes is not due to their Herculean strength or ability to kill diseases with a single super-jab (on the contrary!) but rather it's due to their simply and clearly speaking up without fear, without compromise an' knowing their lives will be threatened for doing so. THAT to me is real-life heroism which might better be called LEADERSHIP.
All of these folks are very regular Clark Kent-y individuals who HAD TO get outta their typical non-public rinds to give us all nourishing "info juice"--at great personal risk / cost too. But if you put any one've these folks in a Superman / Wonderwoman suit...well, it ain't gonna fit or they'd look downright silly. Three Clark(e) Kents thar... modest an' true.
Now bein' a fellow story-teller I think that heroes DO belong in stories--in tales tall an' small an' I'd be sad n' sorry to lose their allegorical sparkle. Plus I think humans need stories--always--that feature heroes--just as we need "baddies"--there is something cathartic 'bout it all--at least in fiction. Kids especially want resolution and yup, a happy endin' -- this is why most folks like "hero" films and it's a rare few've us that are askin' fer a second helpin' of Margurite Duras (or the like...)
BUT...in REAL LIFE down n' dirty, it's not so much that Superman lost his head (what a photo!)--it's that their ain't no Superman "for real"--there are ordinary folks that don't know how brave they are 'til, like ya said, they just ARE, there are regular modest folks that cut thru the fog with clarity an' MUST speak out--bravely, yes! but it's more that they are or that they become leaders "by circumstance." Some of us are "tooled" thattaway... we step forward when nobody else seems to wanna "start the thing" or...as it were, speak up, stand up, risk pissin' off folks. So it's not so much a job we were trained for--it's more something we just "become"--in the moment or ongoing.
I DO think this can be a way forward... An' may there always be a space and'a place (an' a forum like Substack) for all've us "non-heroes" who wanna be part've the solution!
As a fellow story teller, I get the desire for those stories. They make really good theatre! I don’t think they need to lose their ‘allegorical sparkle’ - perhaps we just need a reframing. I think we can learn lessons outside of the goodies-baddies trope too. I want to see redemption stories. I want to see baddies who no longer have the need to be baddies because they feel embraced by the community and have nothing that lacks. Instead of being defeated and blown to bits, I want them to seek forgiveness and to repair damages they’ve caused. I want wisdom to prevail. I want to listen to our children when it comes to how the world ought to be. I don’t want to fight, Daisy. I want to share joy with me fellow travellers to the grave. I want peace.
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.
Yes, and once the hero has finished her journey, achieved her quest and got the ring and the crystal, what then? Like the terror and infighting after a revolution or victorious soldiers who can't cope with peace, if the hero is not living her life for its own sake, what will she be? Say everyone lives in plenty and peace and are protected from germs (hey she got that illusion down already!) the heroes and leaders have no one who needs them. Better to desire the moment right now.
🙏🏽
It seems to me that heroic efforts are required to live a moral life in this realm. Leaving comfortable world views behind in favour of the truth is heroic. Overcoming trauma is heroic. Leaving abusive, parasitic relationships is heroic. Losing family and friends by sticking to fundamental ethical principles is heroic. That's why, presumably, the Hero's Journey is cyclical... and why those moments of peace between efforts must be savoured and appreciated, as you say Jo.
Issac, thank you for that.
yes I agree facing trauma and shame really hurts and giving ourselves compassion takes courage. Crying alone in bed at night is heroic - but so very different from what we've been taught a hero does.
Way to summarise everything I wanted to say so eloquently in a comment.
Yes, Visceral.
I've been exploring this hero theme too, recently. My realisation is that the hero archetype (theme, idea, manifestation) requires a victim. No victim, no hero.
Great for things like rescues, when there really are people in danger. Not great, and even highly inappropriate when it comes to an evolving human species and their changing manifestations of culture and civilisation.
Synchronicity? I used Tina's great song in my recent post, too.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I enjoyed them.
Well said, Guy. And I love synchronicities. They’re like little abstract codes from the universe making up the signs that guide our journeys.
Yes!
Synchronicities are the codes, sometimes abstract and sometimes punch in the nose straight, from the Universe.
Lol, re insightful rants! Yes, the good vs bad stories make GREAT theater! I'm also 100% for other stories too--like them ya mentioned! There are many that ARE compelling--but I think we need them all includin' old stories of heroes (we like Swedish Fairy Tales 'specially and the heroes were often the underdogs--the foolish little brother, the non-greedy "dummy" and all that). But yes, there are so many GOOD stories that are not about heroes at all (includin' my favorite modern musical that I suggested ya watch--One From the Heart--no heroes, a great tale of love and flawed humans who still can dance). I think you are fightin' tho--with words and thoughts and fresh ideas! Perhaps it's an odd "joy" but speaking up an' out and making stuff IS a good FIGHT for humanity! Now there's an idea fer something--a battle with pens an' mouths--mebbe animated? Defeatin' (de-feet-in') those armed with jabs n' nukes... hmmm. Last thought---redemption (which has it's religious component too...) is often an' also a "construct" no less powerful (no less potentially manipulative) than hero tales... The "reframin' " can be GREAT but it also can put out a pick-chur just as arty-fish-all.... So let's keep tellin' many tales and (thankfully) it's in the diss-cussin' (funny, no?)--discussing--that we figger out what applies to our real lives, what is too fabulous or fabricated--what resonates... Ach, my ol' semiotic brain gits into these weeds, ol' stompin' ground--but the pernt is... we can still embrace old fictions (which were always so!) and yet birth the new --which brings us to STOPPIN' the crush down of fertility--cuz it ain't just the vaxxxines making folks "infertile"--it's the polly-tix an' the mockin' birds cuz stories are now an' always a FERTILE field! Keep on plantin' !!!
Must have missed this before. I’m down to have stories with heroes in them. They’re exciting and make for great action thrillers. But can we normalise stories in which there are no devils and no angels either - just the messy and the sublime and the reverend. I can get inspired by basic shit. 😂
fer sure! we need it all wayz I think--an' it all can be inspirin' (the basic, the complee-gated)... I LOVE the ordinary too (movie-wise The Quiet Girl fits right in there...it's beautiful!...a tad melancholy). Anti-heros, underdawgs, an' just messed up slice-o-life stories (me n' my girls just watched Five Easy Pieces, a great actors' actors film--with no heroes in sight... never one borni' moment there...). But fer all've us kinda rootin' fer Bobby Jr (ta bring this idear home)--there IS that frisson 've hope--could he save the day? Are we dang fools to carry some hope? A little? I know I know--it's just his chance ta speak (speak out) cuz gettin' the nom is a longshot... But there ya go, lil' superman/hero idears peep up in spite of "sober" good advice.
As Alice sings (in Wonderland) "I give myself VERY good advice but I VERY seldom follow it.." -- so some've us (most) hope for heroes EVEN when we might know should know do know a tad better! Funny creatures 'r we!
Funny, your last Alice reference reminds me of a few years ago, I was at the playground with my twins and they were playing with this toddler who was way more articulate than my boys. They were playing hide and seek. And at one point, the little girl sat by me and I asked her why she wasn’t out looking for my boys and she looks me dead in the eyes and says “sometimes I like hiding for a long time so I can go find myself” 😆
Yet again, despite being a subscriber, I didn't receive notice of this post. Yeah, we don't need heroes and I'd always thought Campbell's interpretation of The Hero's Journey applied to storytelling/mythology and, like someone else has commented, was a metaphor for our own battles and growth. People don't need leaders either but some WANT them. And perhaps, like you, I found myself unwillingly in that position many a time. I think the last three years have taught us that the majority want to be told what to do. That is massively irritating, nay disturbing, for the likes of people here because that lets the psychopaths in. If people want leaders there's always going to be some control freak to step up. Plato's Cave is alive and well. I, for one, am tired of telling those inside that there is an outside and 'heroically' trying to save them. It sails dangerously close to rescuing and what's the point if they're not shouting 'au secours.'
That is a very salient point. Everyone is in charge of their own rescue.
i have been at my current job for 5 months, i had to learn the job but im already the reluctant leader, beta males everywhere.
😂
The hero archetype to inspire us to be happy. And yet, without victim, there can't be a hero. So, at its core, the hero archetype by necessity creates the victim.
Hollywood has set us up for this! And the 'cabal' are that archetype on steroids! Create a 'tragedy' and be the hero. Interesting.
The hero necessitating the victim is a great point.
Joseph Campbell would take great umbrage with that, I'm sure. From my yoga world, opposite values are complementary. The one requires the other. This is a particular formulation, perhaps, of what the Buddhist call dependent arising; the 'reality' that without everything, there isn't anything. We exist because everything else exists, which includes, OMG!, this darn nasty cabal. Life is amazing.
Well, I argue quite frequently that we need psychopathy to help squeeze us into the next level of evolution. They’re necessary so we wake up.
Yes. In samkhya cosmology, the irritant was the beginning of creation. Without it inertia keeps us comfortable in our sugar coated cages/prisons. Fascinating process.
Wonderful essay, Tonika! Followed by equally wonderful comments. Thank you for laying out this concept in such an honest, compassionate, and entertaining manner. The headless Superman is laughably perfect, and the "ass-prints in the sands of time" phrase (as others have noted) is gold.
In 2016, I was so bugged by assertions on the left or the right that their leader was the "hero," that I wrote a short piece entitled "Electing the Wizard," that reminded people that politicians at that level are ALL just stage-managed, highly scripted actors. What I failed to notice in that essay is something you point out: we need EACH OTHER. The four main characters in the Wizard of Oz worked together, applying their individual talents to the problems at hand.
Another recent aha moment for me was discovering the Heroine's Journey, which is similar to the well-known hero's journey but more collaborative in nature.
And then there's Servant Leadership, which also is something you describe without calling it that. Hmmm... I think I need to write an essay in response to yours! You've opened a door in my head and heart, clearly. As always :-)
I would very much love to read that essay, Mary, and these other concept you mention which I’m sure will keep providing more pieces to the grand puzzle. And can you please link to the “Electing the Wizard” piece? Is it out somewhere?
It's the first thing I wrote on Medium, right before Trump was elected. It's very short. I think I might take a note from my previous self and pare down my essays... :-)
https://marypoindextermclaughlin.substack.com/p/electing-the-wizard-3eeddaffafad
Short but to the point!
Loved this, and YES, we are transcending that hero / villain paradigm, aren't we. Well, we can see where that gets us. One of the things this time is requiring of us, is to individually, take on our own journey, face our fears, shed our illusion and decide what are we willing to stand up for. No hero coming. Beautiful, wise, very sage-like. Thank you!
Thank you, Kathleen, we certainly are transcending. It feels like it to me! Appreciate the lovely comment. 🙏
I have a feeling that inner piece - where we are 'know' the way home - is what's surfacing and coming into play in a big way - as the external world comes down. (Well, in some cases, not all) That we won't be able to navigate without that connection. The lopsided reliance and conditioning to experts and authority has to go, obviously. Sorta like taking the training wheels off finally and steering yourself.
Quite right. Agency and sovereignty come with self custody and that can only be effective if we focus attention and awareness. So, gotta wake up and pay attention. Not a novel concept but so removed from our dominant societal existence where every thing is designed to distract you.
I have felt us move into the archetype of community for a while now, the heroic age being long and gone. which doesn't mean a loss of leadership just a loss of a top down flow and a move into the grid network which takes into account the interconnectedness of all things. here's a great podcast about someone who archetypically fits very much into the engineer mindset of 1+1 linear thinking but who has remarkably moved into his right brain and formed one planet living and systems thinking. its quite exciting!
https://accidentalgods.life/one-planet-living-mapping-minds-to-create-a-new-emergent-consciousness/
the episode following is also about a very dynamic group of people who do massive work and compromise of only 4 people, all equal in reciprocation however with a definite leader, because his job is to point the direction. a refreshing take on how leadership is simply a part of the process rather than the all powerful hero's journey. also very inspiring and I am excited that this is becoming more of the common mindset of folks as well as the grace that within all this decentralisation we have to respect that if we are to decide what we can do we have to respect others doing the same.
Ooooo! I’m putting this in my cue. Thanks!
The “archetype of community” resonates well. I like that.
'You just have to get off your ass because well, no one wants to leave their ass prints in the sands of time.' This needs to be engraved on something big and important.
I’m sure I’m ripping off a quote somewhere. I used this sentiment in a solo performance decades ago, when it meant something different to me back then, when I was reading lots of motivational literature. Lots of spiritual bypassing on my end. I hope I’ve sufficiently grown out of that phase.
https://tenor.com/search/old-man-dancing-gifs
Lol
nice post, did not watch the videos, not in the cards for my location, but the words resonated well with me. good Job.
Thank you, David. The story the girl talks about in that TikTok is worth the visit if you get any bars on your cellular.
"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."
Beautifully written. I couldn't agree more!
Wow, YES. This made me cry and I am reflecting on why. I think it’s two dimensions: 1) I tried to be a “hero” and change my employer’s vax policy, and share info with friends about early treatment for covid. What happened? One person blamed me for her father’s death, though he died pre vaxes, bc the hospital would not give iver or proper treatment - which I gave her information about. (She later told me she would think about my choice not to be vaxed at her dad’s funeral, bc my choice would kill people like him). Ouch. And I was only able to save myself at work, as told here
https://open.substack.com/pub/thecriticalmiddle/p/the-smoldering-rage-of-the-unvaccinated
2) I am also guilty of “hero worship”, which is part of the story above. I am realizing the hero has to be all of us, whatever we each can accomplish:
https://open.substack.com/pub/thecriticalmiddle/p/filling-the-covid-leadership-void
Reading this brings up sadness inside of me. I’m sorry to hear how much abuse you’ve endured. It’s no consolation, I know, but your experiences are recorded in the morphic field that helps change the truth we live. As the terrible experiences add up, mass perception changes. Thank you for suffering through it. That, in itself, was heroic.
Thank you! ❤️
This essay was so in sync with what I was writing about that I quoted you twice! https://revkatiegrace.substack.com/p/sovereign-unity?sd=pf
Lovely!
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?
Yes, Gary, I’ve come to the same conclusion, and I’m in the entertainment business. Or was. I can’t take the fiction story lines any more. I haven’t watched much fiction except Bluey (which, I must say, is the best children’s show I’ve seen). Anything Marvel or comic book remake makes me want to puke. Trite, insincere, hokey. We learn to rely on heroes because it’s what movies teach us. We learn about sex through porn. We learn about relationships through shows like “Cheaters”. 🤮
I like this take on things...'specially since you mention leaders as I've seen "leaderless" efforts go full-chaos in more'n one case... There is a call for leaderless parallel societies but I don't see havin' a leader as sumthin' terribly un-Havel-y.
As you said, a future minus the hero is a different way to think'a things--a good one--AND a way to shy away from all this baloney twaddle about "trustin' " the experts and turning experts (who really shit in the pot like all've us)--folks with with feet'a clay (or cloven hooves ha ha!).... into heroes... The literal novena candles to "Saint Tony Fauci" were so wretch-worthy that it reveals just how insane an' dangerous this "hero worship" has become...
So in theory, without "heroes" each person again becomes responsible for themselves--and their own (friends, family, greater community etc)--a good thing I think!
Now there are folks "workin' " this plandemic--Dr Zev Zelenko an' Dr Mike Yeadon an' Sasha Latypova fer example--that I consider "heroes" (I actually wrote back'a ways about Jewish plandemic heroes here: https://thcsofdaisymoses.substack.com/p/jewish-heroes-of-the-plandemic-a ) but my thinkin' of them as heroes is not due to their Herculean strength or ability to kill diseases with a single super-jab (on the contrary!) but rather it's due to their simply and clearly speaking up without fear, without compromise an' knowing their lives will be threatened for doing so. THAT to me is real-life heroism which might better be called LEADERSHIP.
All of these folks are very regular Clark Kent-y individuals who HAD TO get outta their typical non-public rinds to give us all nourishing "info juice"--at great personal risk / cost too. But if you put any one've these folks in a Superman / Wonderwoman suit...well, it ain't gonna fit or they'd look downright silly. Three Clark(e) Kents thar... modest an' true.
Now bein' a fellow story-teller I think that heroes DO belong in stories--in tales tall an' small an' I'd be sad n' sorry to lose their allegorical sparkle. Plus I think humans need stories--always--that feature heroes--just as we need "baddies"--there is something cathartic 'bout it all--at least in fiction. Kids especially want resolution and yup, a happy endin' -- this is why most folks like "hero" films and it's a rare few've us that are askin' fer a second helpin' of Margurite Duras (or the like...)
BUT...in REAL LIFE down n' dirty, it's not so much that Superman lost his head (what a photo!)--it's that their ain't no Superman "for real"--there are ordinary folks that don't know how brave they are 'til, like ya said, they just ARE, there are regular modest folks that cut thru the fog with clarity an' MUST speak out--bravely, yes! but it's more that they are or that they become leaders "by circumstance." Some of us are "tooled" thattaway... we step forward when nobody else seems to wanna "start the thing" or...as it were, speak up, stand up, risk pissin' off folks. So it's not so much a job we were trained for--it's more something we just "become"--in the moment or ongoing.
I DO think this can be a way forward... An' may there always be a space and'a place (an' a forum like Substack) for all've us "non-heroes" who wanna be part've the solution!
As a fellow story teller, I get the desire for those stories. They make really good theatre! I don’t think they need to lose their ‘allegorical sparkle’ - perhaps we just need a reframing. I think we can learn lessons outside of the goodies-baddies trope too. I want to see redemption stories. I want to see baddies who no longer have the need to be baddies because they feel embraced by the community and have nothing that lacks. Instead of being defeated and blown to bits, I want them to seek forgiveness and to repair damages they’ve caused. I want wisdom to prevail. I want to listen to our children when it comes to how the world ought to be. I don’t want to fight, Daisy. I want to share joy with me fellow travellers to the grave. I want peace.
Your rants are always so insightful. 🤗