Yes an interesting question. I think we are all born wanting to be heroes. I can remember the feeling as I swaggered out of the cinema after Star Wars - Return Of The Jedi! I wanted to be Luke Skywalker!
My son dressed as Sportacus for the first time and looked in a mirror - the look said everything - he WAS Sportacus!
I am very aware that my son thinks I am a superhero right now, capable of anything - I am most definitely HIS hero. But then one day this will become more realistic. I can remember feeling the same about my dad, and eventually I realised that he is in fact mortal, is capable of making mistakes and (occasionally) failing - but he never stopped being my hero!
Society throws the word around rather carelessly these days to describe footballers, rock stars etc etc - but what is a REAL hero?
Is it somebody who died in a war? Seigfried Sassoon tends to suggest that this isn't always the case - and perhaps our guilt at such a futile and pointless death causes us to label unfortunate young men who unlike Norman in my previous post, never got a chance to prove themselves as heroes.
Some men and women do indeed prove that they are heroes during war - but what about all the other heroes? The lady who works tirelessly for years looking after and raising other people's kids? The old lady who saves all her spare money to pay for charities to save people's lives in another country? The guy who takes away the rubbish every week?
Dave Grohl wrote "There goes my hero - he's ordinary".
My definition of a hero - ordinary people doing extra-ordinary things. This is what I think I want to pursue on my photography course!
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