Adversity

What is adversity? 

Well, it's anything that seems to be an obstacle in your path. Anything challenging to you that makes you think, and any sort of change that is not easy to adapt to. 

Every protagonist faces adversity, whether it's a difficult choice or a looming monster challenging them to battle. 

So what do you do, when a monster is staring you in the face? Do you run? Do you challenge it? Or do you pretend it isn't there? 

Many people deal or don't deal with adversity in many ways. Some people judge others by how they deal with adversity. 

But why is adversity so important in stories? Because adversity is important in life. 

The way a person deals with adversity, and the way they choose to reflect on it really can make a difference in the way they live their life, and how they view it. 

I'm going through adversity myself, but it may not seem serious: instead it's a bit embarassing. I almost accepted a false job. So I was scammed. What was the first thing I did? Did I rise up and say no? Did I make a decision right away?

No. I panicked. I began to say horrible things to myself ("You were an idiot." and "You let this happen.") 

But did that help me deal with the adversity? Absolutely not. 

It's normal to be overwhelmed when adversity rears its head, but it's not healthy to determine that it is your fault. This is a natural response, but it doesn't do anything for you. 

Sure you can complain, vent, and blame others, but that still doesn't work. 

So how do you handle a difficult situation? 

One way to handle it, is to accept it, and use it. 

This way is not often taught in schools, or even in everyday media. But the thing about accepting adversity is that you can find meaning in it. That meaning becomes a part of who you are. 

It's like leveling up in video games, and the hero's path in novels. Every conflict you face is a part of your story, and your journey. Each conflict is a step toward finding who you are, and just how far you can go. 

Now, my brush with adversity is minor compared to others.

My brother has Autism. And I can't tell you how many times my brother, my family and I were judged, ridiculed, and ignored because of it. 

We live in a society where different is often ostracized. And now that Autism is becoming more recognized, and less "abnormal" future Autisic children will never have to deal with some of the ignorance and indifference of the school systems that we did.

But that's not the point. 

The point is, my brother struggles with things that are not a struggle to other people. And because of this, he believes that he will not succeed in living a normal life. 

His adversity is a constant battle with acceptance, and just as we all struggle to accept ourselves, so my brother deals with outward and inward ridicule. 

I learned a lesson while working in Korea about the response that kids had to adversity. 

In my students' cases. Many of them didn't want to learn English. But when I reasoned with them, and agreed that English was difficult, but I believed they could learn it: things changed. 

Did I have to do this? No. But I did, because I understood that when you are faced with adversity, the last thing you want to be told is "you can't". I was offered no guidance, and no extra counseling with these students, but through daily encouragement and positive feedback, they got better. 

Now, we're all human, and no matter what problem we face, people will tell us to deal with it, but maybe that's just another way to call it a burden or obstacle. 

Instead, you can think of adversity as a tool. 

As Aimee Mullins explains in this video: instead of asking "How can I get around this?" we can ask "What can I do with this?". 

Seeing adversity, difficulty and even failure as a step toward self discovery may be just the perspective that inspires you to use it. Adversity is the opportunity to write your own story.  

Captain America: A Good Man

Today is July 4th. Independence Day, and the birthday of Steve Rodgers or Captain America. 

Cap'n is my favorite Avenger. And it's not just the man in the suit, or Chris Evans. 

It's his character. 

Captain America begins as Steve Rodgers, a man who wants to serve his country, but lots of obstacles stand in the way. He is physically weak, he has asthma, and he loses a lot of fights with bullies. But he doesn't give up. He goes to many army enlisting booths and changes his name, age, health and tries until he gets caught by Dr. Eskvine. 

Doctor Erskine asks him why he wants to enlist in the army, and this is Steve's response. 

"I don't want to kill anyone. I don't like bullies. I don't care where they're from." 

It is this repsonse that convinces Erskine to choose Steve Rodgers to be first super soldier. 

Despite Erskine's choice, Steve doesn't pass challenging physical tests, but the moment he takes a "grenade" for the team, his true strength is revealed: the test of character. 

Before Steve takes the serum, and becomes a super soldier, Doctor Erskine tells him: 

"The serum amplifies everything that is inside, so good becomes great; bad becomes worse. This is why you were chosen. Because the strong man who has known power all his life, may lose respect for that power, but a weak man knows the value of strength, and knows... compassion." 

As Chris Evans says, "He's good for the sake of good." This is why Captain America is such an amazing character. He does the right thing, and he never gives up. 

Once he finds out that his best friend Bucky has been captured, he goes after him, proving that he can lead troops into battle and stop Schimdt from conquering the world. 

Once he suceeds in saving Bucky, Steve becomes the soldier he always wanted to be, and more than that, a captain.

He also teams up with the incredible Peggy Carter, and he defies more and more of Schmidt's plans for HYDRA. But when Steve loses Bucky, he becomes even more determined to foil Schimdt's plans. 

But the ultimate act of good for good's sake is when Steve manually crashes Schimdt's plane to save millions of lives from the bombs that Schimdt set up in the plane. 

Captain America saved the world, but he paid a price: seventy years of his life. 

He wakes up in modern day America, with a new goal- to maintain the dream he had and to adapt to the changes that the world has gone through while he was gone. 

The first challenge he faces after waking up is to work with others on the Avengers project. 

He gets a lot of slack from the other heros for being old fashioned, but as Agent Coulson put it, "The world could use a little old fashioned." 

SHEILD wants him to work for them, but Steve doesn't trust their secrets. 

He goes to Peggy and tells her, "For as long as I can remember I just wanted to do what was right. I guess I'm not quite sure what that is anymore." 

A new challenge is presented to Steve when SHEILD is comprimised, and he faces his most challenging enemy, his best friend Bucky, brainwashed and weaponized. 

Steve must determine what he believes is the right thing to do, and he decides to stay true to himself and do what he believes is right. 

While saving SHEILD from HYDRA, Steve says, "The price of freedom is high, but it is a price that I am willing to pay." 

In that moment, Steve Rodgers is himself again, and he knows what he wants to do. 

Before Doctor Erskine gave Steve the serum he said, "I want you to promise me one thing. No matter what happens after tomorrow, you will stay who you are, not a perfect soldier, but a good man." 

Captain America is a great hero because he strives to be the best he can be. This is an admirable trait, and the mark of a great hero. 

The Legend of Korra and Avatar the Last Airbender: A refection on tropes, idioms and the hero's journey

WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED THE SEASON 2 FINALE OF LEGEND OF KORRA!

I finished the Legend of Korra season 2, and saw much debate over whether or not Korra had improved by the end of the season. So I thought back to Aang's journey in Avatar the Last Airbender and picked out the internal and external conflicts that he faced. Korra's inner conflicts, although very different from Aang's, are addressed symbolically as well. Once I realized that my reason for not liking Korra as a character was because I compared her to Aang all the time, I decided to reflect on the two character's stories and discovered that although they are very different, Aang and Korra face similar hero tropes and solve them based on similar motivations. Both must accept and acknowledge who they are. 

We began our interest in the world of the four elements through Aang, the last airbender.

This story began with conflict, and the ever important theme of hope. 

Aang was the archetype of the orphan. No family, no nation even, and a mountain of guilt followed him for running away, just before the fire nation attacked and wiped out the airbenders. 

Needless to say, Aang's story was a powerful one. As the only person who could bend the four elements, Aang literally had the entire world on his shoulders. And his return as the Avatar is not just the return of Airbenders, but the beacon of hope that the world will not be eclipsed by the greed and power of the fire nation. 

So Aang begins his story as the underdog, not able to use all the elements equally, and constantly running from the fire nation. We immediately attach to his loss, his guilt and his confusion with the world around him. He was gone for a hundred years, and his disappearance has put the world out of balance. 

But just as any hero story begins, there is not only external conflict, but internal conflict as well. This internal conflict for Aang was reflected in his proficiency with the other three elements. Aang was able to bend air, because he grew up with airbenders, but the other elements were attached to other elements of himself that he was not able to connect with as easily. 

Air was the peaceful and fun side of Aang. He was able to float through life without a care on most occasions. Water was not too difficult to adapt to, because he was able to relate to the patient and accepting side of the water benders. He had to accept sacrifice, and he had to learn the importance of his task as the avatar to bring balance to the world. Earth was a very difficult element for Aang to use. He wasn't used to facing things head on, and had run from his destiny long before the war. Earth was a challenge because it showed a different side to Aang that he didn't want to accept. He didn't enjoy being harsh, and he was always trying to find peaceful solutions to problems. The most difficult element for Aang to accept was fire. There was a lot of baggage he carried about the destruction of his people, the enemy he had to face, and his own guilt at using fire carelessly. And this element presented a new problem that he didn't want to accept. The element of fire was a part of Aang's identity. So the elements were symbolic of Aang's journey from an orphan into a hero. 

His most difficult struggle was the pressure to kill the fire lord. But in the end, Aang was able to make his own decision, and do what he believed was right. He took the fire lord's power away, and by doing that, saved the nations and stayed true to who he was. By the end of Aang's story, he becomes the savior by facing his inner conflicts and accepting who he was.

He becomes friends with his enemy, Zuko, and together, they rebuild the nations and the world, establishing peace. 

So our journey with Aang is a coming of age story, and each main character in the show Avatar the Last Airbender is fleshed out and important to the plot. It was a phenomenal story, with the tropes of good versus evil and the introduction to a new and well constructed story world. 

We leave Aang, and discover that many years have passed since his defeat of the fire lord, and we are introduced to Korra, the new Avatar. 

Korra is very different from Aang. For one, she's not an orphan at all. Instead, Korra is the rebel. 

She is well trained in three elements, and has no problem using them. But she can't bend air, because she doesn't accept that part of her identity. She is not intuitive and repeatedly acts on impulse. Her character is more headstrong, stubborn and less accepting. Her inner conflict is one of self identity, as well as adapting to change. Thanks to technology, benders are not more powerful than non benders. So Korra's inability to bend air reflects her inability to know who she is, and to adapt to change. 

Even with a mentor, Korra's rebellion gets worse, and her impatience, ruthlessness and carelessness have dire consequences. She loses the support of the people, and cannot connect with the past avatars directly.  

She only achieves inner knowing once all her external elements are lost. Only when it becomes a last resort, does Korra learn to connect with her destiny as the avatar. 

But her journey to self identity is not over. There is a new threat, directly tied to Korra's inner struggle. The spirits, which represent the intangible side of Korra, are becoming dark and attacking the physical world. Up to this point Korra has been able to avoid the spiritual side of herself, and only tap into it when it is necessary. But now, she has no choice. She must learn from the past, and change her attitude about the world in order to save it from destruction. She begins by abandoning her mentor, more comfortable with the direct solution presented in front of her. Her choice causes her to unknowingly help her enemy and doom the world to darkness. 

Her journey takes a dramatic shift when she loses her memory. Left with nothing but who she is, Korra is once again able to connect with the past avatars and learn the story of the avatar's creation. This new knowledge gives Korra the ability to listen to her intuition. And the conflict of good versus evil is presented in both physical and spiritual form. Korra once again tries to be direct, but she fails when everything is taken from her. Her only hope now is herself. Her identity. By the end of Korra's story so far, she defeats the darkness by discovering the light within herself. She no longer feels burdened by the accomplishments of the past avatars. She stops comparing herself to Aang, and makes a decision on her own. Korra has finally grown from a rebellious teenager into a powerful and self aware hero. She defeats the darkness by her own means, and chooses to leave the spirit world and physical world connected, symbolizing the balance that Korra has made with the physical and spiritual parts of herself. 

The epic symbols, tropes and emotional arcs of these stories reflect timeless tales around the world. The hero doesn't start out as a hero, they grow as a hero by facing their inner conflicts and discovering a reason to save the world. Korra and Aang go on very different journeys, but both achieve balance within to save the world in the end. 

Book Challenge Day 15: Your favorite male character

Jem Carstairs from The Infernal Devices

This was actually a very difficult decision. There are several male characters that I can put in this catagory. Landon from A Walk to Remember, Augustus from The Fault in Our Stars, Costin from Wildwood Dancing, Adrian from Beastly and Dexter from This Lullaby are some of my favorites. But it had to be Jem. 

Jem is not only a shadow hunter, he is also a violinist, romantic and a loyal friend. Jem is faced with a terrible fate. The very poison that he was tortured with has become his drug in order to survive, but it is slowly killing him, and he knows he only has so much time on this world before he is gone. Jem is wise and patient. He is also funny and kind. His character has the most difficult journey in the series, and his choice between living and surviving is a difficult but admirable one. He becomes a very important character in the series, and he was the character that kept me reading. I don't won't to spoil the series, so I won't reveal his fate, but I will say that Jem was my favorite character in the series, because his story was the most human. He had to face his weakness, make a life changing decision and decide what type of life he would have. Jem actually taught me about inner strength that is so subtle, it is hard to recognize at first. Once Jem discovers his inner strength, he doesn't rely on fate. He does what he can to be the hero he always wanted to be. 

Fruits Basket 20 day challenge day 16: Post a picture of your favorite Fruits Basket character

There is no way I could choose between Kyo and Tohru. Both of their stories are amazing, and their story together is even more so. Tohru is so strong, from her personality to her role in the Sohma family. She is the hero of the story, but because she doesn't acknowledge this, or take advantage of it, many people look down on her and call her a weak character. I believe the opposite because Tohru has a way with people. She understands them, and yet she has her own faults that she has to overcome, but she doesn't let anything distract her from breaking the Sohma curse, and she accepts darkness by creating her own light. She builds a family of her own by showing the Sohmas the kindness and love that she has always wanted since her childhood.  I would argue that Tohru is the strongest character of the series, with Kyo as a close second. 

Kyo is practically bullied by all his relatives, except Shishou, his father figure, and Tohru of course. He lived in darkness under the shadow of the curse, his mother's death and Yuki's superiority in the Sohma family. Of all the Sohmas, Kyo has the most difficult life due to the curse, and it shows. Everyone in the zodiac literally calls him the cat, with Yuki calling him stupid cat and Shigure constantly calling him a moron. Because Yuki, the rat doesn't like the cat, most of the zodiac follow him and avoid Kyo unless they are picking on him. Kyo's ultimate challenge is his true form, which has never been accepted by the Sohmas, and even Shishou admits that he took Kyo in from pity. Kyo has a lot of obstacles to face, and without Tohru, he would never be able to face them. Once Kyo is accepted as he is, he changes. He opens up to people more, allows himself to make friends at school and he doesn't look down on himself as much as he did in his childhood. 

Both Tohru and Kyo are lovable characters who rise above the most difficult circumstances in life and create a future of their own. Kyo gets past the stereotype of monster while Tohru gets past the stereotype of angel. They learn who they really are and overcome all the obstacles in their way. That is why both of them are my favorite characters.