A Hero Without a Cape
Spoiler alert: We all are heroes.
When I watch a television show or a movie where a character is asked to write a paper on their personal hero, I typically sit back and sigh. Because I am nobody’s hero, really.
I mean, I’m a mom, so I’ve swooped in to solve my share of problems. But I don’t hold a high office and I don’t have a prestigious job and I never earned accolades for volunteering in the community. Oh sure, I’ve held offices (Delta Gamma Alumnae Chapter President in the house). And jobs (most recently I was a Senior Director and managed a team of six direct reports). And I’ve volunteered with the best of them (yup, I’ve been a PTA President, it’s true).
But I am, on the whole, ordinary.
One of my biggest fears is dying after living an ordinary life. Without a published book. Without a book tour. Without showing my children that anyone can achieve their dreams with hard work and dedication.
Oh sure, I’m not giving up. I’ve one book written, others started. Maybe I’ll achieve those particular dreams before I die, but maybe I won’t.
In the meantime, I write. I write content and I write essays. I write emails and social media posts and thank-you notes. I write and I write and I write because that’s… well, for a writer, that’s everything.
And I mean… I have achieved some wonderful writerly things to date. I published pieces in mainstream magazines like Parents and Parenting, Woman’s Day and SELF. I published essays in Wine Enthusiast and three Chicken Soup for the Soul anthologies. I have regular content writing gigs so I earn money writing.
But there is nothing about me or my writing career to date that makes me extraordinary.
Here’s the kicker. Last year, I quit my day job to focus on my writing because in the wake of the pandemic, I couldn’t even.
Then this month, Medium gets on my radar. And I find myself called to come here, to write here, to publish here and … experience a writing adventure of a different kind.
I’m being called from my ordinary world to an adventure… sound familiar?
Wait, if you are a writer, it should. (If it doesn’t, don’t quit your day job.)
I’m on a hero’s journey folks, real time, experiencing a real-life monomyth. I have no cape and I have no idea where I’m headed, but I am not going to refuse the call.
I hope you’ll come with me as I trek into the unknown. I will need mentors. I will need guides. I will need coaches and counsellors and teachers and companions and other writers who, like me, do not have capes.
Once I publish this story? I’ll have officially crossed the threshold.
How about you? Are you a fellow journeyer? Are you being called to adventure here or elsewhere in your life?
Answer. That. Call. Let’s leave our ordinary worlds, together.
