Quietly Heroic
Dahlias and sedum at twilight
It takes a good deal of bravery and skill to keep even a very ordinary life going. To persevere through the challenges of love, work and children is quietly heroic.
Alain de Botton, School of Life, Good Enough is Good Enough
I am surrounded by so much quiet heroism, in so many permutations and combinations. Love, work and children are significant, but by no means the sum of possible categories of life's heroic challenges. Here are some of the blessings and challenges faced by a bunch of lovely people close to me: Children, love and ill health. Uncertain work, love and giant projects. Being young, love, looking for work. Being young, uncertain health and love. Work, unrequited love and what is life all about? Getting older, uncertain health, work, love. Children, work, looking for love. Creative endeavours, uncertain work, love. Getting older, creative endeavours, uncertain health, being alone.
Every one of these splendid people gets up every day, steps out into the world and makes quietly heroic waves. Care for family, friends, colleagues, community, strangers, peace, justice. Hilarious stories, good cooking, being nice to cats. It all adds up.
Me: creative endeavours, uncertain work (they go together, somehow!), children, love. All the challenges and all the blessings.
To all of my quietly heroic friends and lovely readers - congratulations. And keep going :)
Talk to me about the combination of blessings and challenges you persevere through.. does it help to consider yourself quietly heroic? I feel very kindly towards any effort to elevate the significance of the minutiae of daily life to epic proportions. Because after all, it is what we do when we get up every day that creates a whole life, in the end..
Every one of these splendid people gets up every day, steps out into the world and makes quietly heroic waves. Care for family, friends, colleagues, community, strangers, peace, justice. Hilarious stories, good cooking, being nice to cats. It all adds up.
Me: creative endeavours, uncertain work (they go together, somehow!), children, love. All the challenges and all the blessings.
To all of my quietly heroic friends and lovely readers - congratulations. And keep going :)
Talk to me about the combination of blessings and challenges you persevere through.. does it help to consider yourself quietly heroic? I feel very kindly towards any effort to elevate the significance of the minutiae of daily life to epic proportions. Because after all, it is what we do when we get up every day that creates a whole life, in the end..
Comments
Pam
And yes life is what we do everyday, thise small barely noticed, until they aren't done little things that keep everything ticking along even amongst the big things that try to road block us. Thanks for writing this and making me take a different point of view.
Cheers Kate
Kate, that is so perceptive - 'the little things that aren't noticed until they aren't done' - yes, that is exactly what quietly heroic is. And yes, we are enough. Isn't that a hard thing to grasp? Well, it is for me..
Anna, ah, regrets. Yes. And yet, as Kate said, clearly, you have been 'enough' for your kids, more than that, their safe place. And they will take that on in their own families and provide safe places for others. Because they can see the difference it makes.. having a perfect family and upbringing is not necessarily the be all and end all of a good life, but always having a safe person who loves you and builds you up, that is gold.
Julie, yes, that is exactly why I felt I had to share this, to remind us all that the real business of life is the care that we give, as we quietly persevere in building up the people around us, and doing the job at hand. The kind of society we all want to live in depends on it.
Meg Hopeful, 'just a crappy day and there's still dinner on the table at the end of it' - oh, yes, that is the height of daily heroism :) Capes flapping indeed :)