On 'bravery'

When I tell someone about my year abroad I get one of two reactions. Confusion, as discussed in the post before, and: 'you are studying abroad? That is so brave!'

Is it? Is it 'brave'? My usual reaction is to smile and deny all associations with the word. I declare my terror, almost defiantly. But today, after being called brave again for dealing with the homelessness issue (now resolved for the first three weeks of my stay...) I didn't deny it. It suddenly hit me; yes! Yes, I bloody am brave! 

All the great heroes of films and novels profess that bravery is not being unafraid, but being afraid and still facing up to your fears. Harry Potter comes to mind, as do all the lessons I ever took away from Narnia, Lord of the Rings and - of course - Bloomability. All children's literature (let's face it, it's the best kind) teaches us to stand up to the shadows under the bed, to face the bogey man and shout 'BOO!' The subtler kind of novel, such as Neil Gaiman's 'Coraline', teaches us that we must take responsibility for our actions, and that fear - although paralyzing - must not stop us from attaining what we want (in little Coraline's case, she faced the Other Mother - the most sinister figure e-v-e-r - to save her parents.)

In more recent news, the opening ceremony for the Paralympics was held yesterday; if I were to settle upon anyone as the embodiment of bravery, I would say it would be the Paralympians. I teared up as I watched a man with no legs dance on his hands. How does a person do that? Not just dance on their hands, but to decide 'I have no legs, I will still dance...'? That is brave.

And in news much closer to home, my friend G of G(OT) THE TRAVEL BUG lived in Uganda for several months providing OT expertise for disabled orphans. Now she is running a sponsored half marathon to help raise medical funds for Ekisa. Facing Africa? Brave. Facing the problems of Africa? Unthinkable. Facing half a marathon? Urgh...

The brave kids of Ekisa, Uganda. Aren't they cute?!

Bravery. Every day, someone is facing up to something they don't want to face. Going in to a shitty job so you can keep the roof over your head? You are brave. Having Sunday dinner at the Mother-in Law's? Well, you are downright valiant! What I am trying to say, amidst all this rambling (it is  past midnight in fairness... ) is that bravery is not that rare. The human condition is by default, 'brave'. So next time someone says: 'You are studying abroad? That is so brave...' I'll accept the compliment.

No point in denying the human condition.

-Rae

Picture Credit: G's Facebook group for Ekisa medical funds - you should totally check out her blog too!