Wind Beneath Our Wings

Heroes

“Did you ever know that you're my hero,

and everything I would like to be.

I can fly higher than an eagle,

For you are the wind beneath my wings...”

Bette Midler (songwriters: Jeff Sibar, Larry Henley & Larry J. Henley)

My apologies—I know that now "Wind Beneath My Wings" will be playing in your head for hours. I woke with it playing in mine this morning, so I'm passing the pain on to you. Actually, it is a beautiful song. Congers up scenes of Kevin Costner carrying Whitney Houston to safety in The Body Guard. But it is now considered “corny” by folks more sophisticated than I. Still, when I wake with a song, or a poem, or a piece of scripture running in my head-space, I take notice.

I got thinking about heroes, and who they are collectively in our culture and who they are in my private life. I confess, I share the cultural norm of finding our men and women in uniform pretty heroic—any uniform—military, police, fire, UPS delivery, postal service, city sanitary workers, doctors, nurses. If you wear a uniform it usually means you are in a service profession, and for me that qualifies as heroic. I know all those people are paid to do what they do, but still, how well would our society run without them? I lived through the garbage strike in New York City in the 1970's, and believe me, it gave me a whole new appreciation for the people who, regardless of the weather, pick up the garbage every day. And mail delivery workers who walk house to house in the freezing cold, and in the stifling heat, to deliver our letters and packages—heroes every one.

My personal heroes are the folks around me who inspire me to write and to create art. They keep me ticking along, satisfied with life and energized to be exactly who I am. Friends, family, and other writers like Barbara Brown Taylor, and Anne Lamott, and Mark Nepo, who literally inspire my own words. Some of my readers send me suggestions, and respond to what I've written—they are my heroes. I wonder who you consider to be heroes. Are they rock stars? Are they famous? Or, are they everyday people who just go about their business doing what they do with exceptional dedication and courage? I wonder, too, if you are someone's hero? Are you the wind beneath someone's wings?

                                                              In the Spirit,

                                                                 Jane