Tina Turner once sang "We don't need another hero" if considered along with the line from the Hopi prophecy: "We are the one's we've been waiting for;" perhaps this is two ways of saying the same thing.
I'm not saying that under certain circumstances I might not "intervene" if someone was in a dangerous situation - I am say that living up to someone else's expectation that I am their "white knight" (or living that idea from shadows of my persona, is exhausting and therefore undesirable). There is certainly value in helping others in times of need as well as each at times, extricating themselves.
To me there is a difference between finding inspiration in the work of, or in how, different individuals are showing up in the world and thinking that knowing them, quoting them, referencing them is going to somehow put my life on a better footing.
Tina's lyrics then are suggesting, waiting for a hero to swoop in and rectify my life (or situations within my community or upon the world stage) could be disappointing to say the least not to mention a colossal waste of time.
To avoid contradicting myself, I acknowledge of have already made references to two other "bodies of work." In my writing I like to play with what others have written or said to further express an idea I am trying to get across. I name them directly, to give them credit for what was said - it is not to be construed as an attempt at "name dropping" on my part. I'm clear - I'm not trying to ride on anyone's coat-tails; so quotes, references etc. I access from a wide variety of sources. On the other hand, interpretation I source from either my own imagination or direct life experience (and I generally specify either way).
Without question time spent with various teachers, schools of thought etc. can all be influential. It is not meant as a slight when I suggest that no matter the caliber of the teaching, how I assimilate it and make it "my own" will shape how I show up in my life and by extension in the world. So I'm not proclaiming complete "independence" but there is disconnect with regard to personal responsibility if ongoing, I'm looking beyond myself for this act of heroism to take place in my life.
I endeavour to avoid or at least actively seek and root out, absolutism and dogmatic thinking of my own; and strive to keep stretching myself develop the best version of myself. One doesn't have to look far to see that many lay claim to following the tenets of one belief system or another, without the heart of the matter coming into play.
No one can live the transformational requirements of any teaching for me. No matter what the world acclaim, mastery, their gifts and talents or the accomplishments of those that have comprised my "education;" what I do with the raw materials of their teaching, is part of my on-going expansion and accountability. To cast them as the hero of my successes or the villain of my failures, serves neither them nor myself.
I know that incrementally and progressively showing up more and more consistently in my authenticity has a powerful and profound effect on my life. This has the effect of bringing a hero/champion into the arena of my own life. It's a process transitioning to a more stable presentation of expansion. Along the way, at least for me, it can seem as though I hover between (in the immortal words of Charlie Brown) being "the hero or the goat." The thing is if I identify that I'm not being particularly skillful in some area of my life, then that is my work to resolve.
I guess looking for a hero is a bit like the flip side of scapegoating - for me the personal accountability piece is missing. I have no Hopi (or as far as I know - which must be taken with a significant grain of salt, any other First Nations ancestry) however for that particular idea (which resonates for me as truth) I have not come across it said a more effective way. It is a beautiful empowering, liberating idea with which to infuse my ongoing growth. I happen to believe the truth of it for anyone living the human condition (not just those of Hopi ancestry). So again, I quote the source of where I understand it to have come from - I don't automatically hoist all those of Hopi ancestry onto a pedestal. There would be those that are struggling to embody that teaching among them just as there are untold numbers of "Christians" seemingly ignoring the teachings of Yeshua (Jesus).
I can't speak for anyone else's life experience but I know for me I have been tyrant, judge, jury and executioner toward myself at different times in my life.
Now, it is time (in a healthy and balanced way) to hoist myself on my own shoulders and bid a welcome home to the hero in exile.
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