by Marty Coleman | Nov 13, 2015 | George Kennan, True Heroes - 2015 |
Endurance
Why would endurance be associated with heroism? Maybe it can’t be understood unless we think about the opposite. Maybe it’s because giving up is so well understood as being the antithesis of heroism.
That would explain why we call people sports heroes. The push beyond what we think we could do. They endure longer and that endurance leads to the final run, the last leap, the improbable score.
The Rest of Us
So, how does that translate for us, the non-sports hero?
I see it in my wife, when she was a single mom. She went back to college, in spite of the hardship and got her degree. She had to make a decision to struggle and persevere instead of saying it’s going to be too hard and giving up. She endured and made a great life for her daughter as a result. She is a hero to me.
I see it in one of the runners I coach. She is the slowest of all our runners. It can be frustrating for her coach and for her. But she has chosen to keep at it no matter what. And as a result she is going to cross the finish line in a half marathon in less than a month. She is a hero to me.
I see it in my friend Lindsay who has Lupus. She has excruciating episodes where her body rebels against her in dumbfounding ways, blowing her face up into a balloon, making her unable to walk, or just putting her into terrible pain. But in the midst of all that she is planning her wedding and continuing to work every day. She is also continuing to show off on Facebook and elsewhere the most original and unique sense of humor that is both self-deprecating and uplifting, insightful and poignant. She is a hero to me.
Encourage Enduring
And that is what we all hope for other people, right? That they will find the will or ability to endure and accomplish their goals. Encouraging people to be heroes is a good thing.
Drawing and commentary © 2015 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
Quote by George Kennan, 1904-2005, American diplomat
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by Marty Coleman | Nov 10, 2015 | English Proverbs, True Heroes - 2015 |
Run Away Child
Did you ever run away from home as a child? It took some planning and some guts, didn’t it. You probably got no further than half way down the block or more than a few hundred yards behind you home in the woods before you turned around or were found by one of your parents. But for most of us we actually never did get to the point of actually running away. We thought about it, we maybe even planned it, but we didn’t do it. Why not? Because we were afraid. We were afraid of danger and the unknown, afraid of starving or getting lost, afraid of not having any help and afraid of hurting those we left behind, especially if we had brothers or sisters younger than we were.
Run Away Adult
I remember my ex-wife at one point in our final throes of divorce saying there had been many times during our marriage she just wanted to run away. Just have it all be gone, have me gone. I have heard many other women since then say the same thing, and I have seen even more people say it on Facebook or Twitter. They say it with humor, but underneath they are serious in their desire to escape.
Why don’t they run away? In many ways the reasons are the same as for kids. They are afraid of danger, the unknown, starvation, getting lost, not having support or help, and abandoning those left behind. Hopefully for an adult the last item on the list is much more important. It is no longer about just what the person running away wants, it’s about the responsibility one has to those still remaining. The children who don’t deserve to be abandoned, the home, the neighbors, the family, the friends, the work, whatever it is. There is a feeling of obligation – I have to face my worries, my fears, my burdens and work through them the best I can.
In the end, that is what makes a soldier a true military hero, and it is what makes a parent an everyday hero.
Drawing and commentary © 2015 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
Quote is an English Proverb
Here is the Periscope video that shows the creation of the drawing.
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by Marty Coleman | Nov 8, 2015 | Photographic Sunday |
I sometimes forget to post my photography here, thinking it’s only about the drawings. But I like showing you the other aspects of my creative exploration and I think this is a particularly interesting series I have embarked on.
Starting with a photograph (sometimes one I or someone else has taken, sometimes a screenshot from Periscope) I layer line drawing, color and original photograph. I use my finger and work in layers to create the effect I want. Most of these have been done in bed before I go to sleep.
Images © 2021 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
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by Marty Coleman | Nov 4, 2015 | Family History, Travel Napkins |
They sat attentive, leaning forward, interested in what one another had to say. The coffee shop buzzed with noise around them but they were not distracted. I sat in the corner and drew.
The woman facing me had a green sweatshirt on with the logo of ‘New Life Ranch’ on the front. I knew the place well. It was a summer camp in Oklahoma, near the Arkansas border, and my daughters had gone there a number of times. We even went there for family camp twice.
It was the place I took two of the best photographs of my life. Both were of the creek that ran through the camp, early on a fog enshrouded morning. One was just the creek, but the other was of my youngest daughter reaching for a rope swing so she could swing and drop into the creek. We had heard the night before that there would be a sunrise swim in the creek. Chelsea wanted to go so we got up very early and I accompanied her to meet the others. I remember sitting with her on this little bench waiting for everyone else, talking about how exciting it was going to be to jump in the cold creek. No one else showed up. We decided they were all wimps and she was the most courageous of them all. She still wanted to do it so I took photos as she took the plunge.
Unfortunately, so far I have not been able to find the shot of her. I am still looking!
Drawing and photo © 2015 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
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