I saw Black Panther last night (don’t worry, no spoilers in this – I hate spoilers), and it’s made an amazing impression on me. It made me think last night, and think this morning. Part of that might be the fact that I’m listening to the soundtrack through my elf earbuds while I write this, but it’s also because of the underlying themes that I saw within it. Bear with me while I unpack it a bit.
Superheros are those who step up, who buck the odds and buck conformity, to try and help others. Yes, they usually have powers or money or both, but not always. The one thing they all seem to have is the conviction that in order to make their world a better place, they need to do something. It’s the same kind of lesson that was in A Wind In the Door, which I just finished listening to. Progo says to Meg, “Where doesn’t matter. Size doesn’t matter.” The only thing that matters, in the end, is love, which is the song of the universe. Like The Force, it binds us to each other. No one is ever really gone, if you know their name.
I’d forgotten the concept of Namers, and I really really like it. When you name something or someone, you imbue it with meaning, with love. You can’t hide from it any more. In a way, the Black Panther movie Named Wakanda, and that made all the difference.
I am a writer. In very essence, I am a Namer – I create worlds out of my dreams and my hopes, and I imbue them with love, then send them out into the universe. I can only hope that my stories can touch someone else, inspire them to become a Namer. While there are Namers like me out here, the darkness will not win. We will not let it.
I Name you, my friends. I Name you all, and I love you. I will fight for you, and I will fight beside you, and together, we will beat the darkness.
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