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Real Life Heroes

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03:21 / 13.04.05

I did a Barbelith specific Google search to find out if anyone has ever started a thread on real life heroes, and to my surprise, no one had. At least I came to that conclusion after several pages of links to the Comic Books forum.

Anyway, today (most likely yesterday, by now) is the 25th anniversary of Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope. For those of you who don't know who or what I am refering to, the links I provided should give you some background. In my opinion, this man was indeed a real life hero.

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From the second link:
"When Terry approached the Canadian Cancer Society about his run, its administrators were skeptical about his success. They doubted he could raise $1 million and as a test of his sincerity, told him to earn some seed money and find some corporate sponsors. They believed they'd never hear from him again.

But Terry persevered, earning sponsors and the promise of promotion from the cancer society. On April 12, 1980, he dipped his artificial leg in the murky waters of St John's harbour and set off on the greatest adventure of his life."
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Terry Fox, an amazing Canadian, attempted to run across our great country on one leg and one artificial leg, until he was finally beaten by cancer and died half way through his quest. I, like many Canadians, have always admired him for his incredible perseverance and determination to overcome all obstacles. He inspires me, because I think if I were in his shoes, (or shoe, perhaps), I most likely would have given up and folded like a house of cards.

So, when I am feeling low and overwhelmed by my own misfortune, I think of people like Terry Fox. I think of other exceptional people too. Some are famous and some people that I have known personally who have put themselves on the line for a greater cause. People that have overcome great odds, have been selfless in spite of adversity or have quietly persevered to aid those less fortunate than themselves. These are the real heroes that I can look to for inspiration.

Who do you look to? Who is your hero?

13:34 / 13.04.05

I suppose people only like comic book heroes here.

13:48 / 13.04.05

Sorry, Strix, I don't have real life heroes, never have. Maybe it's my Calvinist upbringing, but I more or less think everyone on Earth is just an ordinary person. Some of them do amazing things, spurred by some unique cocktails of circumstance and psychology or whatever - some work harder at "achieving" than others - but I think all people everywhere are just regular joes when it comes down to it.

13:55 / 13.04.05

Good, that is worth considering, Ibis. However, an "ordinary joe" can still inspire us if they are doing something extraordinary.

No apology necessary, btw.

14:06 / 13.04.05

Funny. Being Canadian myself, I saw the title of this thread and immediately thought Terry Fox. Not sure if that's actually my choice, or just a reflex response to television ads. My hero? Hmmm...

Tim Leary maybe? Sounds ridiculous, but that guy was willing to take a tremendous amount of crap to pursue a path he believed would save us all. He became a dissident and a criminal for what he believed was right. I should only hope to have half as much chutzpah as he did. Plus, hey, he was really cool, handsome, well-spoken, brilliant even, and did a buttload of work to open people to whole realms of possibility within the mind.

14:12 / 13.04.05

Nice choice Sine, but really...handsome?

The ads you are talking about are probably for the new commemorative coin. There has been a lot of coverage about him in recent days due to the anniversary. I can hardly believe I am that I am so old that I recall following his journey when I was a kid.

Tryphena Absent

14:23 / 13.04.05

I don't really believe in heroes. I think that to make someone heroic is to take all their failings and vices away and when you really love then those things are just as important as all the good stuff about a person.

I think- from familial experience- that often heroism is born out of desperation and necessity and I don't wish those things on anyone. That's why I prefer not to make people in to heroes because I don't really believe in rising above adversity and all that sort of stuff, I just think it's a terrible place to be in the first place.

Tryphena Absent

14:27 / 13.04.05

Mind you I was standing in a lift with Stella McCartney on Monday and as soon as she got out I screamed with delight.

14:29 / 13.04.05

I did the same with Julian Lennon.

14:30 / 13.04.05

I think I should just ask for this topic to be deleted.

I just don't think I have the energy for a discussion on why having looking at the deeds of others is not a weakness.

14:33 / 13.04.05

I think I should just ask for this topic to be deleted.

Really? I like it, I think it's interesting already, though it's just begun.

I just don't think I have the energy for a discussion on why having looking at the deeds of others is not a weakness.

Well, I don't think anyone's said that, have they? Just because I don't believe in heroes doesn't mean I look down on anyone for having heroes. It's just a difference in how we view other people.

14:36 / 13.04.05

Bah, my son interrupted me as I wrote that.

I meant: I don't think that admiring the deeds of others and aspiring to do/be similar, is a weakness.

14:44 / 13.04.05

The other thing I should say, if this topic is goping to stay here, is I personally have been feeling pretty low. I am sure it is showing through in my first post. THAT however, doesn't mean that when I am feeling stronger and more capable I cannot use the inspiration from people I admire to aim even higher.

This thread isn't about idolizing and blind worship.

Nina, you made having a personal hero sound so pathetic.

14:52 / 13.04.05

I know what you meant, it came across despite the missing word or whatever.

Maybe I should clarify, I don't think admiring others shows weakness. And even if it does, I don't despise weakness - it's part of being human, and in fact I have more respect for someone who's willing to be weak at times than for someone who's fiercely in denial of it.

I guess I just don't see "heroic" people as really possessing any extraordinary or superhuman traits, I just see them as compelled to excel by some mix of personality & circumstance which I feel is largely by chance, or fate if you prefer. That's not to say effort is pointless, or achievement is not admirable... but I just think that looking at what's similar in all of us is more meaningful, and more truthful, than looking at what sets some apart.

People often point to police and firefighters as "real life heroes," when those people are quick to (rightly) point out that they're just performing their jobs to the best of their abilities. My uncle is a fireman, and while I think his job is admirable, I don't think it's in any way transcendent.

Again though, I'm not criticizing you for your differing opinion on that.

14:57 / 13.04.05

Strix: I don’t think anyone’s saying having heroes is a weakness per se, just that they personally don’t have them and think that for them they are not needed in the same way.

I really don’t think Nina was trying to make your having a hero sound pathetic. People have just been trying to answer your question as honestly as possible.

I admire loads of people from Thomas More to Ghengis Kahn….. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I want to be like them or that they’re my heroes. I don’t know, maybe it’s a cultural thing about empiricism or something.

It’s good that you can draw strength and inspiration from the deeds of others. Don’t delete the thread – it’s getting interesting. Perhaps you could tell me why / how you draw inspiration from your heroes rather than some other means?

15:04 / 13.04.05

Nina Clamourity - I don't really believe in heroes. I think that to make someone heroic is to take all their failings and vices away and when you really love then those things are just as important as all the good stuff about a person.

I think- from familial experience- that often heroism is born out of desperation and necessity and I don't wish those things on anyone.

Heroism doesn't remove "failings and vices". Rather, heroism coexists with human weakness. They define one another. So everyone has the potential to be a hero.

To answer the abstract's question: My hero right now is my wife. She's in the last month of her first pregnancy, and is trooping right along. Still working full time, still doing a few chores around the house, still walking the dog if her feet aren't too swollen. It's a small type of heroism and no one's likely to see her on the evening news, but it's amazing to me what she's doing and I've got a new respect for her.

15:11 / 13.04.05

*Sigh* Why don't I ever start a simple thread with cute pictures or silly games?

Perhaps you could tell me why / how you draw inspiration from your heroes rather than some other means?~Jub

I do use other means. I use any means at all that will inspire me appropriately. When I look to other human beings for inspiration it is because they may have achieved something that I have not yet and they set a good example of how to get there and that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. I admire that example.

There is no need for any display of "superhumaness" for there to be heroism. One of the best examples I can think of is a woman I know today that started an organization for sex workers here in Montreal. She is inspiring to me and pioneered a path by which I and others can change our circumstances. She is not superhuman, nor is she infallible. She is just an inspiration and a hero to many sex workers for the work she has done.

15:14 / 13.04.05

That is lovely Monk. Sometimes it is the more simple (and I am not trying to belitte your wife, in anyway Monk)examples of heroism that have the greatest imapct on us.

Tryphena Absent

15:18 / 13.04.05

Strix, recently I'm gettin a sense from you that when I reply to you, you think I'm attacking you. But there's no personal criticism here at all, my perspective is only different to yours.

I'm obviously going to have to be more personal about this. When I was in my mid-teens I discovered that during the Second World War my grandfather escaped from a Siberian internment camp, helping others to get out and walked to Iran. I'm unclear of the numbers but I'm aware that a lot of people who escaped with him died en route from starvation and exhaustion. This to an outsider can seem like a heroic action- but it was just my grandad. He never spoke about it, didn't want people to know, threw his medals away, did not wish to be idolised in anyway despite his bravery and sheer guts. I'm aware that he was involved in other actions that people perceived as heroic and was greatly admired for a short time in the Polish community. But for him these were painful memories and he was lauded in a way that he felt uncomfortable about. That's what I mean about heroism being born of dreadful moments- a man can pull children out of a burning house, it may be heroic but that's to detract in part for his reasons because we're talking really about the actions and not his reaction. I think in building heroism we sometimes ignore the people who were heroic by making them idols rather than feeling humans.

This guy you're talking about, all that time he was suffering from a disease and we talk about that pain as if it's something to rise above but it was his pain. That should be remembered and that was simply his personal way of dealing with it. I just think we should guard against making people something that they're not, we should allow people their beauty and not the beauty that we wish to see in them.

15:26 / 13.04.05

Strix, have you read Douglas Coupland's book about Terry Fox? I've heard there are also Terry Fox coins in Canada at the moment, so I guess Terry Fox is definitely someone that people would consider to be a hero.

15:33 / 13.04.05

I should hope you are not attacking me, but you do seem down on heroism. You seem to give pat answers early in threads that have little explination. Now that you have explained further, I can understand your point better.

I can see where the idea of heroism being born out of desparation comes into play for you. I can understand that, but IMHO, your grandfather is still a hero because he saved people's lives when he could have much more easily (most likely) just saved his own ass.

About Terry Fox: He could have chosen to deal with his pain by whining and complaining about his fate. That however, wouldn't have been in the least inspiring. That is why he is seen as as a hero. It is about how he chose to deal with his pain...by helping others deal with their pain.

15:36 / 13.04.05

Sorry, that last post I made was responding to Nina.

Squirmelia: No, I haven't read it, but I have heard about it before and I do enjoy boigraphies. Thanks for the reminder.

16:03 / 13.04.05

I'd add my voice to the chorus questioning the nature of 'heroism' and hero worship, particularly those 'heroes' whose lives are then turned into hagiographic TV movies.

I am particularly uneasy about uncritically ascribing 'heroic' status, an acolade that seems to place its recipient beyond reproach, to people. Similarly, I am uneasy about uncritically ascribing the ill or disabled with heroic qualities based purely on their struggles against their disabilities or illness.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

19:18 / 13.04.05

I'd say, for me, it's more groups of people than individuals (can "hero" be applied in that way?) The French resistance, the guys who went to fight Franco... just ordinary people who would fight for what they believed was right. (Of course, it helps that their and my ideas of right largely coincide... otherwise I'd probably be calling them fanatics or something...)

23:50 / 13.04.05

I think that to make someone heroic is to take all their failings and vices away and when you really love then those things are just as important as all the good stuff about a person.

nina, i think that to sensationalise someone's heroics is to do this, but as monk points out, a personal hero is someone who, even though you are too aware of their human frailty, can still inspire you..

i think people like terry fox (well known, even in australia) are champions, in the broad sense of the word. mandela, and many other south africans - and sadly many other foreign nationals in history - who stood against a totalitarian regime, is also a champion. they overcome adversity, they do things everyone says will fail and have a sense of direction that is novel and liberating.

i am constantly inspired in my work by tales of the life of autistic people, and those working with them. to come to understand another's, almost alien, experience of living, yet realise that it is part of my own way of seeing the world, is sobering and exhilerating all at once.

and those displaced people of the world who find themselves among a foreign culture, but then succeed despite their trials, also greatly inspire me. simple force of living, played out against hardships - great stories and often beautiful people. i feel humble among them.

00:36 / 14.04.05

What you need is a personal saviour, and anything that lasts longer than three weeks is obsession and should be dealt with as such.

You need a Shordurpersav - a Short Duration Personal Saviour, a temporary hero, one who fits your needs at the relevant period. (This is Church of the Sub-Genius, but bear with me.)

In some ways this is the ideal way to worship heroes, because you can choose 'non-heroes' (maybe even ordinary people) for the time that you need them.

Choose Batman for strength when you need it.
Choose Buddah for personal awareness.
Choose your Mum for the way to put up with things.

I have had two Barbelith Suredurpersav's recently whom I'm not going to name but for the time I needed them, they actually were heroes to me.

A bit before that my Suredurpersav was a movie character. It's all about taking what you need to help you move forwarrd.

Real, true life heroes, well they do the same things you do. They fart, pick their nose and get cross.

Having said that, the beautiful man and my son are both my heroes because of the way they are dealing with horrible things we are going through. They're my true heroes, and I have learned this from them: My heroes are not infallible. They are, in effect, the 'Incredible' family. They do wrong things, make bad choices but they're still the people I most admire in the world, and they will save (my) the world.

They're real and they make mistakes. But they acknowledge them and move on. And in this life, I don't think you can get much more heroic than that.

00:37 / 14.04.05

My hero biggest hero has always been Leonardo DaVinci. Not for the Mona Lisa or the Last Supper, but for the depth of mind revealed by his notebooks. They reveal a person who was rapaciously curious, someone who's mind was always churning, who's eyes were always on the horizon. Did he have to write backwards? No, but he chose to. He had a comfortable income as a painter but he decided to focus his energies on automatons, flight, and countless other things.

Undoubtedly the notebooks of many 'Lithers have the same quality, but for me DaVinci is an icon, an archetype of that questing mind. I suppose, when you get down to it, it's the idea of DaVinci that I respond to.

Tryphena Absent

00:39 / 14.04.05

I get that but I think the notion of hero has been perverted and I just don't want to raise anyone above themselves. I just don't have a romantic view of life.

00:40 / 14.04.05

I'll second the shordurpersav, they are a fine thing. For a while I was using Satan (for his ability to get away with things) and Grasshopper (my own personal made up totem-deity), but recently I've been using myself as a shordurpersav, just to see how it goes.

16:37 / 14.04.05

shordurpersav

Except the thread is about real life heroes. By thatI meant, real people.

16:43 / 14.04.05

I just don't want to raise anyone above themselves

Just a question; but do you ever place anyone below themselves?

16:48 / 14.04.05

Read Flex Mentallo: We're all heroes!

RETROGROOVEFIELD GO!

16:49 / 14.04.05

Never a truer statement Mr.Slightly. I gues it is just a matter of activating it.

20:45 / 14.04.05

Strix: Except the thread is about real life heroes. By that I meant, real people.

Not to be rude Strix, but did you actually read what I wrote? My shordurpersavs are mostly real people, last time I looked.

21:05 / 14.04.05

Choose Batman for strength when you need it.

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