The Marks of the 80's on my Soul

Its the new millenium, but here stands I, a product of the 80's - learning wisdom with Daniel-son with guidance from Mr. Miawgi (?sp) or at least how to look cool while standing on a rock. Not that I needed much help with the mountain behind me (I think we are in Canmore). I wonder how this generations heros differ from mine. Ah - what is a hero indeed and who are we but the pale reflections of our heros. Flyings a neat trick, but villians can fly too. What heros have is integrity, ethics, courage and the strength to take the hard path, no matter how tempting the easy path looks. I've joked that my religion is fantasy fiction - but sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't be a bad idea afterall. I've always had a soft spot for heros with flaws. But then if you read David Gemmel's "Morningstar" then you have to scratch your head about the idea of a hero, certainly the other characters did, but then Wintrow believed that "Sa could fit his hand around any tool." (Wintrow is from Robin Hobb's Liveship Trader's Trilogy")

Can you pray through dance? art? breathing in the smell of the forest? Can you learn wisdom for people that never existed? Can you face the hard path better, having read the example of others, some as flawed as you? Can you distill an understanding of the meaning of life from tales of bravery and hardship and triumph over evil?

Who am I? Who am I? Am I the echo of every bit of information I've absorbed from my experiences or more like a soul soup made of all the beliefs I've interpreted in terms of the things the speak to me? What do I want from life? Is it wrong that I dont' know? Do most people my age know, or are they as torn as I am? Perhaps my life will reflect that of my poor lupine, to be planted and dug up, tucked back in and uprooted again? Will I have a guess how the story ends before I'm safely tucked in my grave. What part of humanity is brilliance and what part sheer madness? When we sing - what parts of our souls leak out in the music? When we listen, does it change the patterns within us - do we stop changing? If we do, is it because we've stopped living, even if we are still breathing?

Jennith