Real Life Heroines and Heros - Share Your Story!

[Mika]

I know for me that Avatar reawakened embracing the archtype's of Heroine and Hero. There has been many wonderful threads anaylizing and examining all the various aspects of the roles and meaning of Heroine and Hero both in the movie and for ourselves personally.

The powerful loss of Grace, Trudy,Tsu'Tey and the many other Na'vi resonated strongly for me from the very first time I saw the movie. Two prodominate reasons is the parallels to connections in my personal life. One because I'm a Baha'i and like all religions have founding stories of sacrifices of life by early believers willing to die for their beliefs, which is on the top of my mind right now as tomorrow is the commerative Holy Day of the Martyerdom of the Bab, one of the founders of the Faith. The other meaningful connection is the years that I have been part of, shared, learned and worked with the First Nations community here in Canada. The sufferings of extrodinary loss of lives of Aboriginals and Indigenous peoples around the world is replete with nothing but Heroism and continues to this day as Avatar so assuredly plays out.

So why I'm starting this thread is wanting was to have members share stories about Real Life Heroines and Heros that you have known in your own life.

At first I wasn't sure whom I could say .. but I've just come back from a hospital visit and I have just spent a humble couple of hours talking with a most extraordinary young woman whom I found to be a real life Heroine. She is a First Nations Woman who has already in her life even though less than 30 yrs old, has dealt with more suffering and tragedy than I or many will ever experience in their whole lives, yet as equally has met it with much courage and conviction and empowered herself and others through the same events. At age 11 she was raped, at age 12 a friend disclosed being sexual abused by a priest and despite vehmenant opposition from all whom tried to silence these secrets enabled not only her friend to come forward to the police but opened the door for 52 others to also be able to disclose the abuse and help restore justice and healing for her community. At 15 single handly she challenged the police whom had declared a male friends death as sucide and in the end achieved justice and peace for her friends soul whom after reinvestigation was found to have been murdered. She has faced down and escaped from life harrowing gang threats to her family, and now she is faced with the personal challege and crisis of having been diagnosed with HIV. And all this is only a drop of her story, yet her spirit despite all these tests is one of beauty and longing to help heal her people. As I sat listening to her share her story you could sense that There is only a humbleness in her spirit in all of this. Her genuiness and gratitude for simply being still alive even in the face of this was inspiring and I am grateful to know her.

Her story reaffirmed for me the need to dedicate myself to creating and working in healing centre's that seek to provide woman with places to heal mind, body, spirt and soul.


So has there been a real life Heroine or Hero whom inspired you? Without disclosing anything that would break the repect for confidentiality I invite you to share the story of why this individual(s) is a Hero or Heroine to you and how they have inspired you. Role models, mentors, teachers, even a friend whom inspired you , anyone whom meant something to you to make a difference are Heros and Heroines as well.

[Mika]

Here is a tribute to a youth whom gave her life for what she believed~!

Mona Mahmudnizhad- "The Angel Of Shiraz" 17 yrs old

"And if I knew that because of my execution, all the youth of the world would arise, join hands in service to humanity, become selfless, ... and try to move the world, I would beg to give me ... 100,000 lives to sacrifice ..." Mona to her mother while in prison