The sun sets on another day…
I will give you ample warning, this one may be rough, or it might not. Just be forewarned there will be a glimpse of me in all of the words that follow.
IF you have never met me now, I am a bit confident, maybe a bit over the top, and pretty much have minimal fears in life. My life was not always so. As I grew up I did not have the perfect childhood. By the time I was 10 I had seen things I will never forget, even if I tried. As I turned the corner on teenage years I had been beaten up so many times It could not easily be fathomed. I was tall, but not experienced. My sister and I pretty much faced the world alone, and there were always obstacles that others could not understand.
When I turned 14 my life changed even more. I bought my first comic book and I saw a beating I should not have ever seen. They affected me different ways. I did not know anything about comics at the time and bought X-Men issue 101. I immediately got caught up in the characters and expanded to other comics. X-men became a monthly walk to the convenience store, and I was fascinated by the people as much as the powers and stories. These could have been real people with real problems, and they tried so hard not to use force, but often had to do so.
At the same time I spent my summers in Michigan cutting wood with my Grandfather, I learned to shoot and found I had a talent for it, and learned a lot more. Inside the comics, and the ideas behind them had helped me to decide to never be a victim again. My point of this whole line of thinking is it wasn’t a video game or a movie or a person, but a series of comic books and a mass of ideas that opened my mind to possibilities. I have spent a lot of time since then trying to help others see a different perspective of life. Either in person, in my writing, or as I can.
Stan Lee’s world may have seemed to be a fantastic world of powerful heroes, but I saw it as a fantastic world where we could all be heroes if we took a chance. A world where every man (Or woman, I was using man a a global descriptor here) had a voice, and the strong protected those that needed it, and the bullies did not win. Stan lee gave people hope in hopeful and hopeless times, and made the world a place where standing out was something necessary. He also gave us an old adage that was rekindled for everyone to consider, “with great power comes great responsibility.”
What is your power? What can you do to help the world? Is it something massive and wonderful, or sublime and there for all to see. Do you try to help, or wait for help to find you? I only ask because I know that inside of you is the power to do anything if you try, anything within reason that is, and maybe a few things that are not so reasonable. Maybe if we all listen to the overwhelming power of Stan Lee, we can be a part of a better world, a greater world. A world that is safe because we are in it. It made a difference in my life, and years after my first comic, when faced with a difficult choice, I chose to help someone instead of walking by.
So as the sun sets on another day, Stan Lee is now gone. He will be with us forever with his force of heart, and his amazing stories that inspired many. I hope you can take a moment and remember that you too are a hero, and Stan Lee believed in us all. Believe in yourself, and make the world a better place because you can, no matter what.
Sleep sweet, love life, and get back up every time…