Legends Are Made....Not Born

I fear a life without meaning. I am afraid of being swept away by the sands of time without leaving some sort of unique mark, some symbol that I was here at one point. That fear can be dangerous if not kept in check but it has nonetheless propelled me to strive for excellence in my life. Above credentials, I believe in contribution. As an academic always striving for the truth, it is my duty to contribute my thoughts as so many have done before me. Recently, I created the term ‘Psychosynosis’ and its theoretical orientation. Literally translated from the ancient Greek, it means a union of our soul/mind with knowledge and reason from different areas to create a higher form of self-understanding. I am very proud of this theory and firmly believe in the possibilities inherent to its application. However, the question may still arise: what can it do? It involves mental flexibility, awareness, discovery, choice, knowledge, connection and understanding but what does it look like when applied? I intend to answer that here.

Recently, I viewed an archived video on the TED website from 1972 where Viktor Frankl discusses his theory on meaning in life. Frankl was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist as well as a Holocaust survivor. The experiences he endured lead him to develop his existential theory called ‘Logotherapy’ and he argued for the importance of meaning in people’s lives. He realized that even in the most horrid conditions, meaning could provide the silver lining people need to get through their circumstances. Many of his brilliant and inspired thoughts ring true even to this day but what struck me more than that was how I could suddenly make connections between what he said and other areas of life I was familiar with. You wouldn’t think that I would start making bi-directional connections to Shakespeare and modern day mythology, but there is an underlying current beneath Frankls words which seems to resonate throughout life.

Viktor Frankl attempted to illuminate his concept of meaning by analogizing between his recent flight instructors’ advice during pilot lessons and how we perceive a person’s potential. He uses the example of going from point A to point B in a straight line, or west to east. The instructor told him that if he encounters a cross-wind, and he continues on route in a straight line, he will end up below his targeted destination and get dragged down with the wind. So, he should fly north and tilt the plane up, that way he will end up at the desired location straight ahead which he originally intended. This allows you to compensate for the winds of fate, as it were. Frankl would contend that this is true of life in general and when treating a man (forgive the phalocentric representation; it was the 70s). He said that if you take him as he is and ignore his need for meaning; you make him worse, make him frustrated and denigrate his potential. However, if you overestimate his being, you will end up promoting him to what he truly can be. He further states that we need idealism in a sense; because that is the only way we can get at the true, real essence of what he is capable of, his pure potential. A wondrous guide to our ‘Ultimate Selves’. 

Frankls notion of idealism has a ring of truth in it and can be traced back even to Shakespeare’s own words. However, his path to self-realization or the evolution of potential was to align himself to an ideal which cloaked our humanity. One of his famous quotes from Twelfth Night:

“Conceal me what I am and be my aid; for such disguise shall become the form of my intent.”

What Shakespeare is saying here, is that when man becomes unable to achieve the impossible, he must graft himself to something higher. This will both hide his human vulnerability and take the form of his virtuous intentions so he can evolve into his ultimate self. It will allow him to morph into something beyond the mortal flesh and move beyond the fragility of human existence. He will become one with what he intends to achieve. This one sentence is the epicenter behind one of the most well-known, critically acclaimed and embellished examples of modern day mythology: the legend of Batman.

The story of Bruce Wayne has been well-documented through his origin in comic books, to TV shows, animation and the recently popular film franchise directed by visionary Christopher Nolan. As a young boy, he witnesses the murder of both his parents by a common street mugger and vows to never let the same injustice happen again. So, he dons the cape and cowl as a masked vigilante who stalks crime from the shadows. He employs a state of the art arsenal, supreme physical conditioning and a mind that would rival Sherlock Holmes himself. However, at his core he is still human. He possesses no special power and in many ways, is one of the more physically vulnerable super heroes in comic books. After years of wandering, training and soul searching he decides to pursue this lifestyle. However, he recognizes his vulnerability and mortality during his first year as the dark knight. In the first few months of fighting crime, Bruce attempts to do the impossible as a mere man. With nothing but a ski mask, black sweater, basic tool belt and some martial arts, he would find that being a vigilante is not as easy as it looks. He realizes he is not ready yet and more importantly, criminals know he is just another man with the same mortal weaknesses.......they did not FEAR him. They did not yet have a reason to fear him. In the film adaptation of the story, Bruce remembers what someone once told him: A vigilante is just a man lost in the scuffle.....he can be killed, destroyed, locked up......but if you make yourself MORE than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal......then you become something else entirely: A LEGEND. Bruce would soon realize that as a man, there was not much he could do. However, as a symbol shrouded in mystery, he could do more. He could instill fear in the hearts of those criminals who align themselves with the darkness and shadows by evolving into something else. He chose the bat as a symbol because that is what he was afraid of as a child. Ironic isn’t it? To evolve into something more than you are, by becoming that which you fear to instill the very same in your adversary. To create a symbol shrouded in darkness and mystery, to BE the unknown. Now, criminals would have to deal with something they did not know, and therefore could not understand. They had to look over their shoulders while in the shadows and wonder if someone was hunting THEM. They had a very real reason to be afraid. The rest as they say is history.

Whether its Viktor Frankls’ idea of overestimation leading to a realization of potential, or Shakespeare’s call of aid in an external identity or Bruce Wayne’s evolution through iconography....the common denominator is meaning and personal growth. The same lack of meaning haunts us in the present and the same lesson applies to us all, which has managed to slice through time, literature, history, fiction and reality. The same call for meaning cries out from all of us as we try and find our way in the world. The same frustration at what we are, the same desire for what we can and should be. The same need for personal growth and evolution of our true potential. The same answer lying in three men, three stories, three dimensions. The same theme which connects all three forms of knowledge to help us reach a higher state of self-understanding. The same place where we lose ourselves in purpose but find ourselves in meaning. That my friends, is what Psychosynosis looks like.