The Most Important Question About Superpowers

As we are out costume shopping for Halloween, I am reminded of how, over a number of months, my youngest daughter and I watched the Marvel movies. Admittedly, we were years behind their theatre release dates as we had other priorities and interests, but that’s okay.

It was a nice way to spend time curling up when she was home sick or on cold winter nights. And sometimes, we rested with a movie when tiredness crept in for either of us. Besides the obvious entertainment, it was a chance to remember and revisit some things.  

Superpowers Typically Reflect Superheroes

Superheroes are typically a heroic character who possesses some sort of superpower that they use in pursuit of an altruistic mission. They have both the superhero persona as well as a “real world” personality or alter ego that is not commonly known. They usually also have a defining costume. 

A quick bit of research revealed that the first recorded superhero was in 1936, although things did not take off until 1938 with the launch of “Superman” by DC comics. Many other superheroes have been created since then e.g., Wonder Woman, Captain America, The X-Men, Supergirl, Iron Man, Batman, Spiderman, and on and on. (And yes, I know this listing is mixing up Marvel and DC Comics superheroes).

They possess all kinds of power from flying to great strength, x-ray vision, mind control, lighting things on fire or turning things to ice, creating storms, compelling the truth, or being bulletproof.

While superheroes are fantastical, they are also archetypal. They abound in comic books, fiction books, television shows, movies, video and computer games.

They are much more than characters. They represent the energy of higher development, pursuit, and contribution, using our gifts for the common good, and standing up to darkness, whether in ourselves or around us.

All the stuff of REBEL SOULS.

The Childhood Superpower Conversation

If you are lucky, you may have had a conversation about superpowers, perhaps more than one. Most of us talked about such things when we were kids at some point.

I really wanted to fly. In fact, I often did fly in my dreams.

Wanting to fly as a young girl had limited concern with higher development or the common good and was more focused on my own desire to fly. In hindsight, I can see that flying would also have allowed me to flee from any number of harmful circumstances I was in.

Can you remember what superpower you wanted most as a child? 

The Childhood Superpower Conversation

As adults, if we are lucky as parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, or older brothers or sisters, then we may get invited into or initiate another such conversation with the little people in our lives. No matter, we can create the opportunity with ourselves.

What superpower would you want as an adult? And why would you choose it?

In thinking about superpowers and which one we might choose now and why we would choose it, we are presented with a real opportunity to better understand our conscious relating and creating. 

• We might simply default to the same superpower we chose as children.

• We might bring the painful lessons of adult reality into our reflections and shut down the possibility of heroism.

• We might really listen deeply to the hero within and what wants to emerge, even if it is seemingly impossible given the reality of our circumstances.

• We might notice where we have an overdone quality that comes naturally for us and recognize that it is the beginning of a superpower.

• We might focus in on the one thing that is most important to us that we are willing to devote ourselves to in terms of training, falling down, and getting up, just like a superhero needs to (recall investment by the likes of a novice Spiderman?)

• We might really think about what we want to create or the difference we want to make and figure out the superpower that would be the most helpful for this.

My Chosen Superpower and the Wisdom that Said it All

As you would expect, my reflections on the matter changed considerably over the years. I was lucky enough to have just such a conversation with my same daughter (when she was much younger).  It happened in the car ride to school over a couple of days as we each took some time to think about what superpower we would most want and why.

My daughter, who was about 8 years old at the time was very clear. She wanted the superpower to have any superpower (and of course grant superpowers to others). Smart. Covering all the bases.

I decided that I wanted the superpower of conscious relating and creating. I explained what I meant by conscious relating and creating and that I wanted it within myself and to be able to quickly transform any other being to have it as well (recognizing but momentarily setting aside the ethics of doing so). I wanted it because I felt as though this superpower could lead to the transformation of just about everything in people’s health, lives, relationships, the larger world, social issues and physical environment.

My daughter, who is sometimes, like many children, much wiser than her age, came back with, “You can’t have that mama, and you can’t do that mama”.

Hmmm.

I assumed of course that she had already stepped into her assumed superpower and was simply not going to grant my requested superpower to me.

But that wasn’t it at all.

She explained, “Mama, if you changed everyone like that, they would not be able to handle all the things they did, or let happen, before they were so conscious. It would be so terrible”.

Out of the mouths of babes- I was struck by the deep truth of it. 

Her outward recognition quickly called to mind numerous times in my own life when I had come into another level of conscious relating and creating. Every time, there had been days of near debilitating pain, remorse, self-judgement, and immobility as I faced the things I had done or let happen from a lesser degree of consciousness. But then, I would rise, clean up the mess, no matter how long it took, make repair as needed, and move forward from a new place, ever so slowly working on self-compassion and self-forgiveness. In the process, I was transforming my shame and growing myself into a more conscious human being.

In the end, my young daughter and I agreed that if she were to grant me my requested superpower of conscious relating and creating and the ability to transform the conscious relating of other beings that it would be important that such change happen in degrees and not all at once- otherwise it might simply be too much to bear. (Sounds a lot like the path of growth that is available to us all).

The Birth of Real Superpower

Of course, those of us who’ve had some life experience know that we are unlikely to gain our superpower or our conscious relating and creating because we are born with it, a radioactive spider bites us, or we are exposed to another planet’s artifact. Or because an 8-year-old magically grants it to us.

Rather, the birth of our superpower must come from within, from our own journey toward conscious relating and creating. It must be forged in our movement to higher development, pursuit, and contribution, the use of our gifts for the common good, and standing up to darkness in and around us.

We can easily confuse the matter and discount ourselves when we’re looking to comic book/big screen superheroes or the people who have set significant real-world transformation in motion. People like Ghandi, Martin Lurther King Jr., Nelson Madela, the Dalai Lama, Harriet Tubman, Muhammad Yunus, Mary Robinson, and the list goes on. These people are to be admired and truly appreciated, but we would do well to remember that they did not set out to make world scale impact. They were focused on bringing more consciousness to themselves and their small corner of the world.

For me, real superpower is the byproduct of personal growth, using our gifts and rebelling against what is less conscious in and around us. It is rising up, bit by bit by bit by bit. Sometimes that rebellion is soft and gentle, and sometimes it is clear and convicted, but it is always compassionate, loving, and strong. The process is not easy. We falter repeatedly and then falter some more. But then, hopefully we right ourselves. That too, is all part of the process.

The Most Important Questions about Superpowers (from my Perspective)

So, the question isn’t “What Superpower would you like as an adult?” because that’s about being granted the power.

The important question is…

What Superpower are you already developing and using (or willing to develop and use)?

This isn’t about being superhuman or expecting far too much within a larger culture of doing and being more.  

It’s about slowing down and really recognizing what’s actually been unfolding in the everyday.

Can you see any similarity between the superpower you said you wanted and the one you are already developing?  

Can you see all the bits of development that have already happened? 

Can you notice the places, no matter how small, where you’ve gained higher development, pursued and contributed, used your gifts for the common good, and stood up to darkness within and around yourself?    

If the connections aren’t immediately obvious, that’s okay, just let it unfold in its own right time.

Once you know what superpower you are already unfolding in the everyday, find ways to lean into it more directly:

• Acknowledge, invite, and encourage its unfolding.
• Put it into action in your life and in the world around you, even in small ways.
• Practice it again and again in different and bigger ways until it’s an integral part of you and how you engage with life.
• Use it like a blanket to surround your humanity and the ways that you sometimes misstep (like we all do).
• Learn more about it through reading or discovering historical figures who exemplified it.
• Lean into it to bring more lightness and even a little cheeky rebellion into your life.
• Allow it to pierce some of the darkness in yourself and/or the world around you.

 With Humility, Hope, and Heart,