Superhero Backstory

I smile when I think of the superheroes I've witnessed - those larger-than-life characters on film and the awe-inducing ones I've had the honor of admiring in real life.  One thing I've enjoyed in recent popular culture has been the superhero backstories that have manifested from the minds of authors and screenwriters.  My imagination and curiosity has always driven me to investigate why folks do what they do, from whence comes their capacity for greatness or simple, gracious, courage despite the looming nemeses they have faced, and the motives compelling good (or gory) actions.  These backstories help to explain the loss, pain, duty, and other components that generate the powerful characters that captivate our sense of wonder.

https://movieweb.com/sky-cinema-superheroes-trailer/

Everyone has one - a backstory.  Not everyone becomes a nasty villain or virtuous hero; but we all have the ability to be either.  Capes aside, we each bear a mantle, and many have been driven to wear a mask - often that mask is meant to protect themselves in some way, a wall to the world...

When I learn where someone "comes from," his or her history disclosed to me - a precious and precarious trust established, I hold the peculiar jewel of those personal truths most valuable.  Those experiences and exposures contributed to the person they have become, the potential of what could be.  Often, these histories hinder, but often they herald a higher calling yet to be realized.  These disclosures also hint to the meaning/origin of the masks people wear, why they are prevalent, and what it would cost to cast them aside and face the world in stark, brave bareness.

Jotting with Johnna:

• What is your superhero backstory - those relationships, realities, realms in which you learned and grew, the elements which coalesced into the man or woman you are now?
• How has your past shaped your personhood, your attitudes and behaviors?
• Do your coping mechanisms and ways of relating with the world hearken to your history; and how are they helping or hindering you?
• Whose influence contributed to the person you have become; and who is impactful in your current development?
• Where might you garner superpower-like resolve to fulfill your promises, vows, to make real what dreams and passions wrestle for recognition in your spirit?
• Why not make today the day your backstory bolsters you to those things?
• Are you hesitant because the mask you have worn has become too comfortable to shed?
• If so, are you willing to do the work of self-discovery to boldly become free of it?

Remember:  you are so very worthy of breaking free of - building fire of - the backstory which brought you to this point.  You are the chooser, the catalyst, the Scribe of your own Wellness Script in everything from casting, alternate endings, and plot twists.     

https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/george-eliot-quotes

Stay tuned.  Stay focused.  Stay well.

Stay SUPER.