Stan is a character that I've written for and about for many years. Recently it occurred to me that Stan is my Worthiness Superhero. I have instinctively set her in motion when I need to figure something out, when I need to face something that is far too scary for plain old me to face. Stan is capable of far more than I am, on my own.
Stan is cooler than I am. She's stronger, and she is way, way more adventurous.
I've come to know that I can count on her to get up.
When she's knocked down, when life seems like more than one soul can take, Stan gets up.
That's a hell of a superpower to depend on.
This site is an exploration of the basic idea of creating a Worthiness Superhero. We see a worthiness superhero as a tool in what author Brené Brown calls shame resilience.
‘We’ are Alicia Johnson and Shannon Gallagher.
I am Alicia. I created Stan.
Shannon is a personal change agent. (She's shared more about herself in I Need a Hero.)
Shannon and I have worked together in a number of ways over the years, and the very funny part of this site is that both of us are total scaredy pants about being seen.
So we agreed to lean into Stan’s chutzpah and step out into the light — and to make something that we believe has value for ourselves and for others.
This is Worthiness Superheroes (or as we affectionately call it, WHOOSH!). As so many do, the idea for this came into being of it’s own accord, springing itself on us rather fully formed as a site, a practice, a speaker series; a platform that sheds light on paths out of shame.
Here’s how we intend to use this site: Shannon believes that calling on your own worthiness superpowers is critical to manifesting positive change in your life. She will use the site, and facilitating the development of worthiness superheroes, as part of her change practice. You can read more about that, too, in I Need a Hero.
I am finishing a digital novel, POSITANO: WITH EYES OPEN, that sets Stan out ahead of me once again. I'll use WHOOSH! to connect with people about shame and worthiness and the unique value of having a worthiness superhero. My sense is that the people who will love the story will have an affinity with the notion of a worthiness superhero, and will have done work of their own in the whole shame area (imagine my hands up and birdlike as i say “shame area”).
As I work on this note, though, I also sense that this could be a great place for writers to introduce characters. A place to poke at what their characters mean to them. Stan came barreling into my life a decade ago and every day I’m so crazy glad she did.
We hope that if you found this site you'll share your own Worthiness Superhero, and join us in lighting the way.
I keep thinking to myself “how cool is this?” We are calling on our highest selves to make something happen that we believe in. For me, even though I think it‘s cool, it scares the bejeezus out of me. And then in that endless internal back and forth, I think, “Why not, what's the worst that could happen?” Maybe I'll tumble and fall, crash and burn, fall flat on my face, or flat on my ass... and I settle on this: I’ll be OK. I've learned from a superhero about the art of getting up.
— aj