I don’t think I would be out of line in saying that there has been a coarsening of our public discourse over the past decade or so. Compassion, empathy and compromise, cornerstones of the history and growth of our nation, have somehow become a symbols of weakness. We have taken the bait and allowed our wildest fears to dictate our actions, make us accept the craziest propositions and set aside our reason and logic.
We have lost sight of the fact that our strength was never about simple brute force. Our strength came from our idealism– things like equality and opportunity– and our courage in doing what was right. Heroic qualities.
But it seems we have lost all sense of the heroic.
I thought I’d share this post from about 8 years back that features a favorite painting of mine and addresses those heroic qualities.
This is a painting from a few years back that always sticks in my memory. There are many things I like about this piece, many things which I think make it notable but the part that sticks most with me is its title. It’s Legendary Heart.
I suppose the title visually came from the shape of the tree’s crown or maybe it was something in the atmosphere of the piece that suggested the name. I’m not sure exactly except to say that I have always seen something quite heroic in this piece.
What do I mean by that? What is heroic?
Oh, it’s easy to define heroism in terms of combat or competition, the obvious examples for displays of courage and bravery. Soldiers racing forward through a hail of bullets to capture an enemy or save his comrades, a fireman climbing into a burning building to rescue a child or even a competitor fighting through injury to bring about a victory– all are truly heroic.
To me however, this piece speaks to the root form of heroism, the element that defines all heroism, from the most glorious to the most mundane everyday variety that often goes unnoticed.
I’m talking about self-sacrifice.
Heroism is the giving of yourself to and for others. Whether it’s a soldier or rescuer risking their safety so that others may be saved, a parent putting aside their own self interests for the benefit of their children or person who sacrifices their time and fortune for the betterment of those who truly need their help– all are heroic in terms of self-sacrifice.
Heroism is not about amassing accolades or wealth. It’s about amassing a wealth of spirit and that that can only be achieved, paradoxically, through giving, not taking. It’s about shedding the greed and meanness of spirit that dwells deep within us, side by side with our sense of charity and courage, in some cases pushing aside these better traits and overtaking our characters. We are living in a time where this has happened all too often.
The heroic is in compassion and empathy, not in domination of any sort. It is in having the courage to let the better parts of our character shine.
We could all use a little of this courage. I think many of us are always on a sort of hero’s journey, trying to find this bit of good while fighting back our baser demons. Occasionally, even momentarily, it appears to us and we feel nourished, strengthened enough to continue forward.
That’s what I see when I look at this painting. Oh, it’s a striking image but it’s the message that I glean from it that makes it stand out and whenever I see this painting, on a computer screen or in my mind, I am reminded to keep moving forward, to hold strongly to my own compassion and empathy.
Redtree Times 
Nice piece Gary, both the old words and the new ones ring so very true. I think a big part of the problem may be that we are now in a time where our common idealism isn’t a shared vision any longer. My ideals were set in my youth, learned from my heroes, both real and fictional. Some came from school, some came from church, some came from family… but all of it looked forward to the future. Today it seems like much of the world is looking for an idealism based in the past, and their “heroes” seem to reflect that.
Bear in mind, all of the above is stream of consciousness, first cup of coffee thinking…
“*Bear in mind, all of the above is stream of consciousness, first cup of coffee thinking..*.” –That’s how most of these posts come about so I do understand. That being said, I’m not even sure that people today are looking for some unrealistic ideal from the past because I don’t think they have enough interest in the past to even know what they are longing for. They just want what they perceive to be the easiest path forward, the one that requires the least amount of effort, thought or cost. This desire for expedience is sometimes very costly in the long run.
Gary, I think I need another cup of coffee after reading that so I’ll just leave it as is. If I don’t hear from you again before the end of the week, try to have a great New Year. More than ever, it’s going to take some effort.
On Tue, Dec 27, 2016 at 11:28 AM, Redtree Times wrote:
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Gary, I think you are right to a degree. I think what most people are looking for is the idealized past of the 50’s and 60’s. But, what they fail to realize is… That America never really was. And it didn’t go away because of a war on Christmas, or because we had a black, socialist President, or because of Obamacare ruining healthcare in America. It just wasn’t the America that was.
And like you, even this late in the day I could use that last, lukewarm cup in the carafe. So, here’s to an uneventful New Year, or at least a non-earth shaking one…
Fresh up of coffee this morning and I am reminded by this of a story I heard several years ago on NPR about Stalin and how he was now being viewed positively by present day Russians. I wrote about here on the blog . Like us, they seem to edit out those parts of the past that we were fighting to escape at the time.
Any constructed, “ideal” reality is going to fail, whether it’s constructed of memories from the 1950s or hopes for the 2020s. Too many people have no taste for the messy, complicated, realities that make up life: they would prefer to avoid accountability and the basic truth that actions have consequences.
I’ve thought for years that a basic problem with politicians and bureaucrats of every stripe is that they are absolutely detached from the consequences of their decisions and actions. We are the ones who suffer the consequences — and many of the most heroic people I know are the hidden, nameless ones who cope with the hand they’re been dealt with grace and courage.
You’re absolutely right about our inability to construct an ideal reality, Linda, as well as about the political class’ refusal to deal with the reality of the consequences of their actions. The idea that one can deny factual evidence and make any falsehood true by repeating it endlessly has made for multiple realities, making this a very confusing time indeed.