Heroes (not the TV show...)
Who is your hero? A student of mine brought the topic up the other day. It's really not something I actually think about too often; it may be that it's not culturally too closely aligned with Aussie culture, in the same way that we just don't talk about 'our dreams' as perhaps Americans do. Our British colonial heritage keeps that sort of revelation tight to our chests, thank you very much.
But I started thinking about this the other day when challenged. And I thought of three people immediately. I think that's the true test of who is a hero; you can name whoever you want, for whatever PC reasons you might have... But who honestly is capable of actually changing your own behaviour, in a What Would Dexter Do? Kind of way.
For me, and first, it's Nancy Wake. An Aussie living in Paris at the start of the Second World War, who involved herself in resistance activities until it became too hot for her, then fled to the Uk where she trained with the SOE to be parachuted back in as an agent. She ended up fighting with a group of partisans, insisting on wine and make-up even as they camped on the Massif Central. She had extraordinary élan, and the story that always, always comes back to me was when she rode a bike across the mountains to warn off an attack that would have been catastrophic. Her thighs were rubbed raw, and she didn't get off the bike for at many, many hours because she knew if she did she'd never get back on. Every time I am doing something that challenges me physically, I tell myself, 'Nancy rode across the bloody mountains with cheese grate red thighs, FCOL. Get a grip!' That three day ride remains a constant heroic reminder to me of true courage, and I have used it when I needed it.
Raoul Wallenberg, the righteous gentile from Sweden. Look him up if you don't know his story. Every time I need moral courage, I think of him and remind myself that to compromise in the face of bullying-which is to say, the face of evil- is worse than the evil you are facing. If you don't know better - if you truly think you are doing the right thing even as you intimidate and control others to their detriment, you are still less morally accountable than the person who understands the morality, who sees the compassionate, decent path, and chooses not to take it. I think of him, and have done so since my mid twenties, every time I am afraid to stand up to the powerful people who are making unkind, unjust, immoral choices. I have never dealt with the kind of stakes he did - saving hundreds of Hungarian Jews by rubber stamping them into Swedish citizens, in the face of Nazi oppression, and ultimately at the cost of his own life - and I sincerely, deeply, hope I never will. But I tend to think moral courage is a muscle like any other; exercise it regularly, and it grows in strength, so that should a crisis occur, it's there for you when you need it.
And Australia's Geoffrey Robertson, a man who has taken on churches and governments in the pursuit of justice. I think of him when I grow weary of seeing arseholes doing what they like, where and when they like, without compunction, simply because they are adhering to that time- dishonoured dictum that might is right. Geoffrey, and others like him, work incredibly hard in The Hague to bring such people to account. I think of him when I need encouragement, when the fight wearied me and I think the arseholes have won. His lesson is perceptiveness and persistence. Be aware of what's happening, be ready to raise your voice, keep your sense of humour because that's something that the small-minded ( and ironically, it's the pettiness of tyrants that strikes me most) struggle to curtail or contend with.
So these are my heroes; people I conjure up in my head to hold me to account. I guess that's not necessarily what people always think of when they market 'superheroes' - they're looking for someone to rescue us from external threat. I guess I'm looking inward for someone to rescue me from my worst failings; my cowardice, my selfishness, my fear and anger and bigotry.
I'd love to know who inspires you. Do you have someone(s) who challenge you to be better?
''
But I started thinking about this the other day when challenged. And I thought of three people immediately. I think that's the true test of who is a hero; you can name whoever you want, for whatever PC reasons you might have... But who honestly is capable of actually changing your own behaviour, in a What Would Dexter Do? Kind of way.
For me, and first, it's Nancy Wake. An Aussie living in Paris at the start of the Second World War, who involved herself in resistance activities until it became too hot for her, then fled to the Uk where she trained with the SOE to be parachuted back in as an agent. She ended up fighting with a group of partisans, insisting on wine and make-up even as they camped on the Massif Central. She had extraordinary élan, and the story that always, always comes back to me was when she rode a bike across the mountains to warn off an attack that would have been catastrophic. Her thighs were rubbed raw, and she didn't get off the bike for at many, many hours because she knew if she did she'd never get back on. Every time I am doing something that challenges me physically, I tell myself, 'Nancy rode across the bloody mountains with cheese grate red thighs, FCOL. Get a grip!' That three day ride remains a constant heroic reminder to me of true courage, and I have used it when I needed it.
Raoul Wallenberg, the righteous gentile from Sweden. Look him up if you don't know his story. Every time I need moral courage, I think of him and remind myself that to compromise in the face of bullying-which is to say, the face of evil- is worse than the evil you are facing. If you don't know better - if you truly think you are doing the right thing even as you intimidate and control others to their detriment, you are still less morally accountable than the person who understands the morality, who sees the compassionate, decent path, and chooses not to take it. I think of him, and have done so since my mid twenties, every time I am afraid to stand up to the powerful people who are making unkind, unjust, immoral choices. I have never dealt with the kind of stakes he did - saving hundreds of Hungarian Jews by rubber stamping them into Swedish citizens, in the face of Nazi oppression, and ultimately at the cost of his own life - and I sincerely, deeply, hope I never will. But I tend to think moral courage is a muscle like any other; exercise it regularly, and it grows in strength, so that should a crisis occur, it's there for you when you need it.
And Australia's Geoffrey Robertson, a man who has taken on churches and governments in the pursuit of justice. I think of him when I grow weary of seeing arseholes doing what they like, where and when they like, without compunction, simply because they are adhering to that time- dishonoured dictum that might is right. Geoffrey, and others like him, work incredibly hard in The Hague to bring such people to account. I think of him when I need encouragement, when the fight wearied me and I think the arseholes have won. His lesson is perceptiveness and persistence. Be aware of what's happening, be ready to raise your voice, keep your sense of humour because that's something that the small-minded ( and ironically, it's the pettiness of tyrants that strikes me most) struggle to curtail or contend with.
So these are my heroes; people I conjure up in my head to hold me to account. I guess that's not necessarily what people always think of when they market 'superheroes' - they're looking for someone to rescue us from external threat. I guess I'm looking inward for someone to rescue me from my worst failings; my cowardice, my selfishness, my fear and anger and bigotry.
I'd love to know who inspires you. Do you have someone(s) who challenge you to be better?
''