Superheroes (Again)

I love superhero movies. We go to all of them. The latest release is Captain America played by that sweet Chris Evans (Fantastic Four's Johnny Storm, loved him there too). I think Stan Lee and the other creators from Marvel Comics were absolute geniuses. In my view they had a deep understanding of the human psyche and were able to illustrate it so beautifully in their superhero stories.

Anyway, Captain America is set in WWII and Steve Rodgers (our protagonist) is a scrawny guy (I'd really like to know how they do those special effects to make Chris Evans seem so puny) that is bullied and beat up all his life. He tries to enlist over and over and is rejected every time. He comes to the attention of a scientist who is working on creating super soldiers and Steve is chosen because of his courage and values and a kind of purity. When asked if he wants to go overseas and kill Nazis his response is no, he just doesn't like bullies. So they make him into a big strapping, strong guy who heals from all wounds and continues to be extremely courageous. Of course they have the super villain as well and it all makes for a great story; after all, how would we get to experience heroism if we didn't have villains in our storyline.

So one of the reasons I love the Marvel movies as well as other superhero type stories such as Harry Potter (loved the last one!) is that I love to make up stories about the metaphysical meanings behind the story. I love doing that with all stories including my own but the superhero ones really inspire me because they are stories of overcoming our small ideas about ourselves and living from an expanded place.

Captain America comes to be because there was someone who was small and bullied and knew the value of strength and courage and looking out for others. The transformation that took place was only possible because of the hardships he had faced. The super villain in the story had been one of the inventors of the serum that was used but he had been 'evil' and selfish and so the experiment on him created someone who was even more of that.

We so often view the 'bad' things that have happened to us as being some kind of punishment or a good reason not to do things now. The tendency is to project the 'failures' and 'negative' experiences onto the future and tell ourselves this is what will happen if we follow our hearts. I hear it over and over and I have said it myself at different times in my life, that people are too afraid to do what they long to do because something bad will happen. Projection, Projection, Projection! Yes, things have happened and it's important to acknowledge past painful experiences but it doesn't mean we can't do things that are deeply true for us now. There may be some work to do, and it may be somewhat painful (ask any superhero) but there is Life, big Life on the other side. What we often fail to realize is that the wounds are more often than not what sets our course in life, one way or the other, and that they are actually here to serve us not stop us. Life really is so elegant and amazing in its design!

So that's the short version of why I love superhero movies!  What about you?

Weather

Weather seems to be a great influencer of mood and a fascination for many of us. I was raised in a farming community and still have close family members involved in farming. Weather is a constant topic and source of frustration in that profession. Not enough rain, too much rain, hail, etc definitely determines much of their success with crops every year. It isn't as important for most of the rest of us in terms of livelihood (unless you're trying to build roads, etc) but it remains a favored topic of discussion and continues to have an inordinate influence on how many people feel. I find the whole weather thing absolutely amazing and enthralling.

I think one of the reasons we remain so very affected by the weather even though it doesn't directly affect our livelihood is because we have absolutely no control over it. We can predict it to some degree now but beyond that we are no different than puny ants in terms of being powerless to change it or even to influence it. In ancient times religions sprang up around the weather given how powerful it was in comparison to the human creature. We even developed concepts such as bad weather meaning we had done something wrong and needed to appease the gods! There are still people today who believe this kind of thing even though the language may be somewhat different.

Notice the way weather was perceived by the ancients (and still is by many) was all about filling in the gap of awareness. In order to create an illusion of influence or power over what is not understood the human tendency is to give it meaning. We're very good at it and have generally convinced ourselves that what we think about a thing is real and in some strange way protects us from the unknown. Whether we give the unknown a 'good' meaning or a 'bad' one, it still has nothing to do with reality; we're making it up. Nothing wrong with that, it's part of what it is to be having this human experience.

As far as I can tell, when it's time to have a new experience some of us may be called to release the meanings we have given ourselves and our world. Recognizing that the way we've seen things was interesting perhaps and helpful in its own way doesn't mean we have to hang onto it. Do we really need to hold onto some kind of belief in order to be here experiencing what Life has to offer? Ever wonder what it would be like to be completely open to Life, free of preconceived ideas about yourself or what's happening? I wonder about that a lot. It invariably creates a shift in awareness that I experience as delicious and delightful (Yes I know those are quantitative adjectives but lacking the language to truly describe the experience I'll go with them for the moment)

Bottom line, no matter what the 'weather' there's an opportunity to experience awe regarding the unknown when we remove the veils of artificial meaning.