We Could Be Superheroes

My friend Steve has a theory that everyone has a low level super power. He proposes that everyone has an ability that is both innate and unique - some form of minor brilliance.


Steve's low level super power is parallel parking. He can do it so deftly and accurately that he is almost inclined to take a photo of his accomplishment upon completion. He is unable to walk away without a lingered moment of admiration, a tear, an appreciation of exquisite beauty.
He uses another friend, Tim, as an example. He reckons Tim's low level super power is the ability to roll a Yahtzee (five dice of the same number) on command. He has an innate ability to do so, and does so frequently.


At first I thought Steve's low level super power theory was a bit silly but the more I thought about it, the more it actually began to make sense. I thought about the vast array of untrained talents people possess. I thought about those of my friends and that of my own. Perhaps talents were just low level superpowers. Being a sucker for romanticized notions, I started to prefer viewing them in such way.


So began the conjured images of latex suits, flowing capes, and staunch silhouetted poses on tops of skyscrapers. I imagined pride in one's own self worth and identity without ambition for attention or limelight. For superheroes, joy in using their talents was enough. It was like a necessary worship for something greater. They did so for the betterment of humanity and that's all that really mattered.


I've got lots of friends with amazing superpowers; the power of encouragement, the power of motivation, depression-eliminating/life-affirming laughs, step-aside-MacGyver DIY skills, musical genius, artistic vision. Each person is unique and each has something different to add that others can't. We're all like X-men mutant freaks or untrained Harry Potter Wizards. We needed to go to some kind of school where our abilities could be fostered and subsequently set the world alight. 


I dig Steve's theory. We all have a low level super power. Embrace it. Use it. It is your destiny.


But with great power comes great responsibility. Remarkable giftings also became burdens. Clark Kent had no free time and everyday was destined for interruption. What if he decided not to fly anymore? What if he preferred to say, just toil away in his office and pay off a mortgage. What if Peter Parker preferred to.... I don't know.... host LAN parties? What if the Ninja Turtles couldn't be bothered fighting and got fat on pizza in the sewer?
I refuse to believe that people want to live an ordinary, predictable life. Does anyone get a kick out of it? Do people want to wear jeans and a t-shirt or elaborately designed, striking latex?
Maybe boredom is fate for people that shy away from using their talents and rising to challenges. We need to ask ourselves what stirs our souls? What makes our hearts beat faster? What do our bodies long after?
I would put money on Superman suffering from depression if he suppressed his ability to fly and see through walls. He would be able to put up with it for so long, but eventually the psychological guilt would consume him. Someone at work would complain about a mundane task he had performed one day such as photocopying (maybe the corner was slightly blurry) and he will get enraged. "You don't know what I'm capable of!" he will scream internally. "I can fly! I can run faster than a cheetah!" But the truth is, he will have not performed these tasks in so long that he will question his ability to perform them still. Such realization will cause him to die a little on the inside.


In the same light I ask; 


What would Peter Parker be if not Spiderman? 


Where would Mary Jane's affections lie?


The problem is I know so many talented people that aren't embracing and using their superpowers. They're toiling away in offices when they should be pioneering gastronomy, they're selling cell phones when they should be animating, walking grannies when they should be writing.
Sure, we know the reasons for the above: the struggle to earn a living, the realities of such a money orientated, commercially driven world.
But maybe that is part of the cost? Maybe financial difficulty is part of the superhero's burden. To be caught in a battle to pay rent and support a family whilst pursuing world redemptive awesomeness. Capitalism. The enemy is capitalism. Greed, our kryptonite.


If you think about it, life is pretty amazing. In each of us burns this undeniable desire for joy and pleasure. It just needs to be channelled righteously and purely. In unity. In love. In the name of freedom. People have forgotten how special they are. They don't realize how much potential they have. What we need to do is acknowledge it and celebrate it. Pursue the things that make you live. Pursue life and all things good. Everyone has a choice and there is no depravity: Seek light to illuminate the hero, or decay reclusively into the anti-hero.


Roll your Yahtzee.


Parallel park your car.


Live inspired or not live at all.

This blog was inspired by Sufjan Stevens, who possesses the superpower of life changing beauty and inspiration, especially when viewed live in concert. The 25 minute music clip Impossible Soul, attached below, is less of a song and more an opus of metaphysical search, prognosis, and resolve. The song itself contains five different movements. Find the time to listen to it properly and consider your own superpowers in the process.

music.sufjan.com