What Does a Hero Mean to You?

Greetings,

There was an interesting discussion about heros in the Study Hall that I wanted to tease out here and get some takes. No "wrong" takes here, as "heros" and manifestation of the Journey is very personal.

What do you think of when you hear the word Hero? How does it relate to your personal journey in being a Jedi?

For me, heroes are people who step forward to fulfill some need, using the abilities and capabilities they have. This can be someone donating $5 to someone in need, or stopping to help someone carry groceries. It can also be someone who risks or gives their own life to save someone from flooding. It's not the size and direness of the act, but the movement to act that sets them apart. It is making a choice in defiance of one's own self-interest to help another.

How that fits into my view of being a Jedi is that Jedi is a vocation to me, alongside my day job and religion. It's something that physically manifests in what I do, using the mental and emotional capabilities strengthened through study. For me it's definitely not about reading all the books and then forgetting the world of introspection as soon as I leave the house. If something I learn is not useful in the world, I don't feel it's something I want to spend time on. The value should be in how it can help me be that hero, equip me to rise to a call for help in as many ways as I am able.

The main character or characters of the stories are usually, for me, the heros.This includes every character. This comes from the influence of frequenting ideas like the book,  A Hero with a thousand  faces. Human development is shared by every one of us. How did they make it? How did it all end? Did they find what they were looking for?  The characters to the answers to these types of questions, for me, are the heros of the story. How does each character develop and in what way? It is in the development and redemption where i find my hero. That makes them in my book, heros. Somethings got to change and develop. All roads are good. 

Carlos.Martinez3 wrote:

The main character or characters of the stories are usually, for me, the heros.This includes every character. This comes from the influence of frequenting ideas like the book,  A Hero with a thousand  faces. Human development is shared by every one of us. How did they make it? How did it all end? Did they find what they were looking for?  The characters to the answers to these types of questions, for me, are the heros of the story. How does each character develop and in what way? It is in the development and redemption where i find my hero. That makes them in my book, heros. Somethings got to change and develop. All roads are good. 
 

Irony seems to be the plat du jour these days for me. Funny seeing you again(I like you btw). Funny being here again. Funny this conversation pops up when I visit the temple. Funny you have rank and titles in the temple... Coincidence? Fate? Who knows? We are called to answer a question: What is a hero?
I don't know the answer so it's fortunate the question was focused on "what does a hero mean TO YOU?". Nonetheless we can't answer that until we answer what is a hero. I would argue that totjo doesn't really know. I don't even know. Maybe it's a question with no answer. Alan Watts or Joseph Campbell will give you some fictional definition but nothing we can use in the real world.
I can only answer from what I have experienced. My father was a hero. Jestor was a hero. Alexandre is a hero. They didn't really do anything heroic but they changed my life... they made me a better person. So maybe a hero is just simply a person who cares enough to help others? And they do it in good faith and without reward.