Showcase Sunday: Where are the heroes

I wrote this piece late one night from my phone, as I lay in bed thinking about the world we have created and the people we place on pedestals and look up to as some kind of beacon. We spend our time paying attention to celebrities that do not matter, doing things that have no bearing on our own lives and seem to think that it is valuable to who we are, what we do and the value of experience. Entertaining the mind with something that requires no input, no thought, no solution - just consumption.

While those in this world who are actually attempting and working to make it better, are criticized for not doing a good enough job of it, not achieving fast enough results. We spend trillions on entertainment, while the value of what needs to be done goes begging for change.

I have corrected a lot of typos and reformulated, as this was written from the phone and carried the telltale signs of a small keypad - and fat fingers.

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Where are the Heroes

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When I was a child I never imagined being a fire fighter, a policeman or an astronaut. I did however fantasize about one day doing something great, something that made a difference, maybe even changed the world. I knew it was unlikely, I knew I wasn't smart enough, strong enough or brave enough, but perhaps through some strange turn of events, it would happen.

It was never about fame or fortune, not even about glory, it was just to have lived a life that meant something to someone else other than myself for my own survival. As a child, my life was insignificant to all but myself - perhaps some things never change.

In my opinion, heroes aren't made by circumstances, it is through the choices made in circumstances. Most heroes in this world will live and die unknowns, never having their story told, never being celebrated, remembered, revered. Does it lessen a life's meaning if the actions are unseen by others, where there is no limelight, no fame, no reward?

We like to celebrate achievements and we have created a world where we brand labels upon each other and ourselves to categorize and differentiate. We want heroes, yet we pay celebrities to stand in their stead.

I wonder in this world at this time, who would march beside Gandhi, who would stand their ground alongside Martin Luther King - *if there were no cameras, no share button, no easy way to personally brand the moment?

The protesters of today are filled with violence for the sake of violence, nothing to do with their cause. Solidarity against terror and tragedy is a profile picture update, colored lights on a landmark monument. Heroes.

It is interesting in a world where people stretch for meaning and purpose yet do not have even the energy and drive to invest into the lowest levels of service to something outside of ourselves. We want more from our experience without the resiliency to endure even the slightest discomfort or a timeline that doesn't gratify our immediate needs.

No one can live in the present moment while wanting, but one can while working toward something more. The beauty of life is in the work is it not, just as the beauty of a sunset is in the process of the movement as the sunset itself is an end point. Darkness.

Where are the heroes, those who live a life of decisions toward betterment despite the lack of accolades and attention? We have but an attention economy though, so it is no wonder we value attention seekers who grab the spotlight at any cost, we even applaud them as brave. Bravery is not what it used to be.

In a disposable world filled with disposable products and disposable people, no one need plant their feet or stand firm to face life, as there is always somewhere else to run. Avoidance, justification... cowardice? If it doesn't feel good, there is no value, if it isn't rewarded it is a waste of time, if victory isn't ours, there was no point.

Heroes die in battles, not because they are failures, but because they put themselves in positions of uncertainty, challenge, risk. And they do it for others. Everyone wants a place to be themselves assuming that is what the world needs of them, as if who we are has value just for being.

Is this true? Is living in self-indulgence the answer to our ills? Is selfish the path to fulfillment? It seems we are on the road to find out - and I don't think we are going to like what we discover.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]

This is a post for the @nonameslefttouse initiative
#showcase-sunday