Froma Walsh is an award-winning family therapist who speaks and consults internationally on the subject of resilience—the ability to weather adversity and resist depression. She says one trait that helps families and communities to transcend difficulty is the ability to draw on the inspiration of heroes. “Beyond the borders of our everyday world, we can be inspired by the life stories of great men and women of courage and high attainment who have overcome adversity,” says Walsh. In her experience, people can reach beyond their own preconceived limits by looking to positive heroes who “model resilience and inspire our strength and success.” This is all very well, but what if we have no heroes to look to? That may be precisely our modern predicament, but according to Mark Barrowcliffe of the Times Online, it's our own fault. Barrowcliffe argues convincingly that there are still people who have the stuff of which heroes are made—but we fail to recognize and venerate them because we focus on the wrong characteristics: fame, money and glitz instead of courage, loyalty and selflessness. To illustrate the truth of Barrowcliffe’s accusation, think back to the last time you stood in a supermarket check-out and glanced at the magazine covers. What are the most famous accomplishments of the celebrity heroes whose names you can recall almost as easily as your own? They’ve starred in movies, excelled in sports, crooned hit songs or walked down runways modeling clothes that people could never wear in real life. While some may give to charitable causes and be extremely nice people, they are not famous because they have been noble or courageous or resolutely loyal and self-sacrificing. They’re famous simply for being—famous. Now, think of a few other names, not nearly so well-known. Liviu Librescu: the Romanian-born Virginia Tech professor who was shot holding off a gunman so his students could escape through the windows of his classroom. Welles Crowther, the 24-year-old “man in a red bandana” who helped countless people to safety on 9/11 before being buried under the South Tower of the World Trade Center. Irena Sendler, the Polish social worker who defied the Nazis to save the lives of 2,500 children by smuggling them to safety. Even after her arrest and subsequent torture she refused to reveal their hiding places. If, as Froma Walsh suggests, community resilience depends in part on the inspiration of those who have themselves courageously overcome adversity, maybe we do need to rethink our icons. Mark Barrowcliffe is right—the problem isn’t that heroes don’t exist anymore. We’ve just forgotten how to tell who they are. | 
