Mutant Enemy

Everyone's a Hero in Their Own Way

    For those of you who haven't noticed or don't regularly read this column I'd like to bring your attention to the last ten articles that have appeared under the "Impression" title. Of those ten, the majority have focused on a specific person. Whether it was about Kevin Smith or Martin Luther King Jr., The creators of Superman or fashion model Nicola Mar, these pieces have looked at the lives of some exemplary people and asked, "What can we learn from them?"

    This week I'd like to take a different approach, one that is less "preachy", less why-can't-you-be-more-like-him sounding. The fact is that it's easy and fun to write about personal heroes or people who have clearly made the world a better place. It is inspiring and rewarding to read about these people and that, after all, is what we're aiming for. What it is not, beyond the summation of the principles each piece contains, is challenging. Sure, I like to end  the articles by asking the reader how he's going to change the world or put up with obstacles, but that's after I've built up the legend and prowess of the person I'm discussing. It is so very simple to say, "I'm not Dr. King." or "I'm happy with my success (or lack of it)." It's easy to read the pieces I write and shrug them off as something out of your reach. I should know, I do it all the time.

    I said before that it is easy and fun to write those biographical articles you all read but that was, at least partially, a lie. While it can be easy to write about people I find inspiring it can also be a massive downer, realizing how hard these people worked, how dedicated they were and, sometimes, just how plain talented and/or lucky they are. I often find myself editing a piece I have roughed out thinking, "And what am I doing with my life?"
    
    The answer, when I take the time to respond to my extremely negative alter-ego, is actually not as bad as it seems. Sure, I'm not out there pitching my story ideas like Siegel and Shuster or tramping around the country like Walt Whitman. What I am doing is this; I am educating students and trying to ignite a passion for the written word, I am raising two beautiful little girls, I am involved in a relationship with an amazing wife and I am writing.

    Not to downplay any of the wonderful items from that list, but writing has always been a dream of mine. Since I could lift a pen I have tried to tell stories, evoke emotion and make myself understood with words put down. As I got older I realized that this was a dream that had to be deferred, a desire that had to be downplayed, as there were just not enough paying gigs for a writer like me. I put my focus into education and found a passion for it, found a pleasure in the give-and-take of a good classroom- joy in the light of understanding coming into a child's eyes. But I always, secretly, wished I was a writer.

    I wrote things; little poems, epic stories. Mostly I wrote them in my head, but sometimes they found their way on to paper or hard-drive. I never, in fact, gave up.

    Here I am, a teacher for seven years, a husband for almost six and a father for over three and I am finally a writer. This may not be the way I planned it or the medium I thought of as a child (The Inter-what?), but I am doing it.

    We all have things that set us on that dark path, that road of recrimination where we abuse ourselves for all the opportunities missed and mistakes made, but reading an article about a great person shouldn't be one of them. I find that while I may not be able to hold on to the lessons I try to impart in my "Impression" articles, there is no reason for them to get me down.

    So when you come back here next week and see my essay on The Genius That was General Patton (Maybe), it's no cause to bemoan the loss of that brilliant military career you never had, it's a chance to review, to rethink and see what Dream you still have that you can accomplish.


Principle: Dream