A Letter to the Unsung, the Blackbirds singing in the Dead of Night.

Heroes aren’t knights in shining armor.

Heroes aren’t strong, powerful, unwavering people with big muscles and ambitious career paths.

Real heroes are people who are weak and broken but fight to make the world a better place anyway.

Real heroes wake up and go to work, even if their job’s brutal, even if it drains their very soul, even if no one recognizes their sacrifice.

Real heroes are regular people, who push on through the twilight. Blackbirds, black as night, singing their beautiful song.

These true heroes, they see the dim light on the horizon, and they’re not sure. They wonder, what is this light? Could it be the first beams of a rising, hopeful sun, or the failing flickers preceding the darkest night of their lives?

They don’t know. But they keep going.

These people don’t have anyone cheering them on. They don’t have a reason to keep going.

They put one foot in front of the other, and they move forward. I’ve seen them do it.

Real heroes are people who keep going when everything in them tells them to give up. They fight for one more day, one more minute, one more second, even when nothing makes any sense and they see no future for themselves.

“There are no heroes. There’s only people who do heroic things.” — Edward Snowden, on JRE, today October 23rd 2019.

Just between you and me,

I saw Joker the other weekend. I thought it would be nothing more than another movie, but it was powerful. Too powerful.

It affected me more strongly than any movie has before. Sitting in the theater, I sympathized way too much with the main character in the film.

The movie was simply overwhelming. A panic attack washed over me like hot water pouring over my head and body.

I got up and walked out of the theater, calmly as I could, and into the empty bathroom just around the corner. I practiced some deep breathing and recited a few words under my breath as my hands gripped the counter, knuckles white.

You are NOT the Joker. You are NOT. the. Joker.

I went back and watched the rest, regulating my breathing the whole time. I had to see it through to the end.

It was an amazing movie and I loved it even though it terrified me. I would highly recommend it if you haven’t seen it.

I don’t think it incites violence. I think it does the opposite. It inspires compassion for those around us who suffer from mental illness and misfortune.

I don’t sympathize with the Joker’s violent impulses as much as I sympathize with his suffering, although my life is much easier than the life of his character. I’m not much of a hero, my life is relatively easy, I suppose. But that’s not the point.

It’s dark out there. There’s a lot of broken people. I wonder if there are any who aren’t broken.

You probably are broken as well. But don’t give up. You are a true hero. The more broken you are, the more courageous you are when you fight for another day, and the more of a hero you are.

Sing your song, blackbird. Take your sunken eyes and learn to see. It’s not a sunset. It’s a sunrise. Believe it.

The brightest day is preceded by the darkest night.

Don’t give in, don’t give up. You’re a walking miracle, every day you wake up and decide to do heroic things when you’re just you. A normal, broken person.

Best wishes.