Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
A journey for the rest of us
From The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers:
Moyers: Why are there so many stories of the hero in mythology?
Campbell: Because that’s what’s worth writing about. Even in popular novels, the main character is a hero or heroine who has found or done something beyond the normal range of achievement and experience. A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.
I used to think, “We can’t all be heroes.” I also used to channel Dirty Harry Callahan to my med students and junior residents: “A man’s gotta know his limitations.” I still hold by those words.
Some folks have to see themselves as heroic. I don’t have to, but that’s just me. If I wanted to, I could work some internal magic and see myself as a hero; the trick lies in one’s definition of “something bigger than oneself.” My family is bigger than me. My practice is bigger than me. Hell, my blog is bigger than me, way bigger, thanks to you guys. And if I ever manage to get a book published, that too will be bigger than me.
I don’t need to rule a nation.
I don’t want a corporation.
Which is not to say that we don’t need rulers or empire builders. There’s a place in the world for true genius, and there may even be a place for boundless ambition. We humans are builders, after all. Makers. We shape the world into the image of our dreams, and sometimes we create wondrous things.
But other people should be our bricks, not our mortar, and we should be damn sure we’re building a good solid brownstone and not the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.
A man’s gotta know his limitations.
D.
And besides, I think I’d rather be ironic than heroic 🙂