Heroes for a New Normal
If our stories are reflections of our world and our heroes the values of that world, then it’s certainly time to tell new stories and create different heroes!
Let’s start with the heroes!
For decades our views on the ‘hero’ were defined by the comic-strip characters created during WW2 and the post-war years. The clean-cut, muscle-flaunting, super-powered hero (Captain America, Super-Man, etc.) single-handedly confronted an external enemy, defeated the evil forces & restored ‘good’ to a world that had temporarily veered in the direction of ‘bad’.
Those popular characters rode the gravity-defying waves of individualism and singularity. Until … suddenly & unexpectedly the waves came to a crashing halt on the shore of Coronaland.
The heroes in Coronaland were very different.
They were not driven by personal glory or powered by ‘super’ strengths. They were the millions of nameless & individually-unacknowledged helpers, carers, service-providers, parents, friends & neighbours who worked together in the interest of community and the common good – some of them as part of under-resourced, over-worked teams.
The ‘elixir’ in Coronaland?
It was not carried by a triumphant super-hero, whose solo performances had rescued the world. The elixir in Coronaland was shared generously among all the unsung heroes. Those who drank it showed heightened levels of caring, compassion, generosity & humanity.
The stories emerging from Coronaland?
One thing is clear. Like the out-dated heroes, the old story-formulas didn’t fit their journey anymore.
Their stories about a time when a great darkness fell across the land and the people were very afraid are being written. One story at a time …
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