What is a hero?

Embrace the Hero Within.

What is a hero?

The term hero is tossed around in today’s society so much that I believe we are getting heroes and heroism all wrong. We’re taking away the mystique, the mystery, the mysticism, the spirituality out of being a hero. Instead of the hero being something heroic, we are making the hero into something rudimentary and common. We are taking away the special journey of the hero and the special actions that make the hero and replacing that with something common and ordinary. Heroes are not common and ordinary. Heroes are taking a journey to make a change in both themselves and the world into which they return.

So, what constitutes a hero today? Conformity. Today the term heroism is attached to folks merely following orders. Media toss this term to people simply doing their jobs. You get to be a hero for getting a paycheck and performing a function. Health professionals are heroes. Law enforcement officers are heroes. Teachers are heroes. Soldiers are heroes. Firefighters are heroes. We take professions that have the slightest instance of danger and make that interaction with death and danger what defines a hero.

The idea that what defines heroism is standing against death is nothing special. Everyone, daily stands against death. And we typically do that every day until we die. There is nothing heroic about just facing danger. Life is dangerous. Life is deadly. Life is not an easy thing even in the world of today. There are plenty of dangers that abound in this new savannah that are just as deadly and hard for us to see as the predators from thousands of years ago. Mainly because humans experienced these natural threats for thousands of years and our new threats are less than a thousand years old.

So, if there is nothing special about following orders or facing death, then what makes someone heroic? Is it the qualities of their character? There are many people that do great things with their lives. They are people that we should look to as an example. People that may become our mentors along the journey. BUT, this worship of other people is always a dangerous situation. More times than not, when we place our faith in other folks it is commonly misplaced, misused, and misintended. When we look for something external to make us whole and give us meaning, we lose sight of what truly makes us unique and our journey unique.

Maybe it is not so much the actions BUT within the qualities of heroism that we can define what makes a hero? A hero has a different journey from what the current system with its orders and hierarchy has set into motion. The hero has a responsibility to learn a special knowledge and bring that knowledge back to the current system. The hero has a responsibility to return with the hero’s new knowledge and the hero’s new understanding and integrate these into the system the hero left upon the hero’s return.

So, what is the hero’s journey and how is this journey different from following orders? The journey has five main components. A hero must hear the Call to Adventure and then act upon that call to Begin the Adventure. Once the hero goes forward into the journey, the hero will face a Road of Trials to test the hero’s resolve and transform the hero into someone worthy of receiving the special knowledge, the Ultimate Boon. Finally, the hero must Return with the special knowledge to the beginning or origin of the hero’s journey. These are the main steps that each hero must undertake whether the hero be one from history, from fiction, or from today. Heroes transform not only their self but also aid in the transformation of the system. The hero is not fighting against death, the hero is not following order or orders, the hero is not ever the same as a result of the journey and neither is the system into which the hero returns.

My direction over the next few weeks or however long this takes. Is to take the monomyth’s five key stages and examine how heroes of the past and literature undergo this journey BUT also how we can also undergo this journey. I aim at taking a deeper look at what heroism actually entails and dismiss the ideas of attaching heroism to conformity and order. I aim to make the hero mystery and mystique something unique and personal, something that we can all aspire and inspire within our lives.

Have the day you want. I hope you find whatever you’re looking for.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #MyBodyMyChoice #MakeYourselfGreatAgain #EmbracetheHeroWithin