SPECTRUM 2007-2008

The blue glow of a lightsaber blade filled the screen as Luke Skywalker’s Jedi weapon blazed to life. The humble farmer boy from Tatooine stood in defiance of the terrifying figure of Darth Vader, the evil ruler of the galaxy. My heart pounded as I let go of the fact it was only a movie, and I became completely absorbed in the fear and courage of the moment. Watching this climactic scene from The Empire Strikes Back as an impressionable ten-year-old boy, I was profoundly moved. I wanted to be a hero like Luke. Looking back now, I can see that my life has been greatly influenced by the heroes of American mythology. A handful of fictional heroes I loved as a kid have affected my life through my career, philosophy, and sense of adventure.

When I was a child, I wanted to grow up to be Batman, but since that wasn’t really possible, I decided to be a firefighter instead. Being a firefighter makes me feel like Batman sometimes. For example, one night about a year ago, my fire pager woke me up at 2:30 am. The dispatcher’s voice said there was a fire in downtown Loretto and that all surrounding cities were being called in for mutual aid. Like Bruce Wayne being alerted by the bat-signal, I rose from my bed to answer the call. In the dark, I hastily threw together my worn and smoky gear, was careful not to wake my family, and then left to save the city. Batman has also influenced the way I perceive myself as a firefighter. I realized this one night after I had responded to a house explosion in my hometown. I had spent the entire day fighting the resulting fires and wading through a decimated, smoky landscape that looked like a World War II battlefield. When I finally returned home to my basement bedroom, I felt a tired gloominess come over me like the Dark Knight returning to the solitude of the Bat cave after a hard battle. Most of the other guys in my fire department probably have a more realistic view of what it means to be a firefighter, but personally, I prefer the view of a comic book superhero.

Most people turn to their teachers, church pastors, or guys like Dr. Phil for guidance in developing their life philosophy, but I turned instead to a little green Jedi Master from the movie Star Wars. The Zen-like stoic philosophy of Jedi master Yoda has had a noticeable influence on my philosophy as an athlete. For instance, last summer I ran a lot to get in shape for a triathlon. I ran for miles off trail through the woods near my home and found myself imagining I was Luke Skywalker running through the murky swamps of planet Dagobah as Yoda urged me on, “Run! Run! Feel the force flow through you.”? After awhile, I started to believe I actually could feel the force in me, but maybe that was just the tingling numbness in my legs. I also sometimes use the Jedi teaching of Yoda to help me focus. For example, two years ago I went on a long hiking trip in the backcountry of northern Minnesota. By the end of the first day, my legs were so sore from hiking with a sixty-pound pack over rough country I could hardly stand. I was soaked because it had rained all day, and I thought I was going to lose my sanity from the merciless cloud of mosquitoes that relentlessly harassed me. As I grudgingly trudged on, I started to repeat the Jedi code in my mind, “There is no emotion, there is peace…”? and suddenly my misery gave way to passive contentment. I can thank Star Wars for my stoic, Jedi-like philosophy.

My friends sometimes ask where I got my reckless thirst for adventure and then look bewildered when I respond, “from playing Tomb Raider.”? The outlandish adventurer character Lara Croft, star of Tomb Raider, has inspired me to go on some outlandish adventures myself. For example, several years ago there was a sprawling construction project in my hometown of Hamel, which included a new section of the storm sewer. One night I gathered up some gear, including a flashlight and a skateboard, put it into a green army-surplus backpack and ran out to the site around midnight. Under the cover of night, I found an entrance to the incomplete sewer and descended down into the dingy, subterranean labyrinth. Like Lara raiding a newly cracked tomb, I pushed myself along through the narrow tunnels lying on the skateboard. I explored those black, tomb-like tunnels until I finally found another exit about a quarter mile away and emerged to run home laughing. The amazing acrobatic ability of Lara has also inspired me in my adventures. For example, one night when I was in high school, I spent the rainy evening at school practicing my acrobatics. I climbed the slippery drainpipes, jumped from rooftop to rooftop, and performed dive rolls through the roof puddles until the building’s security finally chased me off the property. Lara Croft has inspired me to do crazy things, but she’s just another one of many American heroes in my life.

Like the ancient Greeks, modern America has its own pantheon of mythic heroes, many of which have had a profound impact on me. I might not be a firefighter today if it wasn’t for the fact I read DC comics as a child and wanted to grow up to be just like Batman. The mysterious Zen and Stoic teachings of master Yoda have given me the focused mind of a Jedi Knight. The crazy, death-defying adventures of Lara Croft have instilled in me the same craving for adventure. Today I’m inspired to be a real-life hero, only because I once believed in the imaginary ones.