Being the Hero

This past weekend Kathi's sister and her daughter came to visit, and we took a trip down to Springfield to see the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum.  That evening when we got home, we rented and watched the movie, Lincoln.  (I recommend both the museum and the movie highly, if you haven't experienced either of them—or even if you have!)  So for pretty much the entire day, we were immersed in the experience of Lincoln's life.  It all lead to some rather spirited and inspiring conversation and contemplation for all of us.

One of the major challenges of Lincoln's presidency, perhaps even more important than the Emancipation Proclamation or winning the war, was getting the 13th Amendment to the Constitution passed in Congress, officially ending slavery.  Lincoln had to pull out all the stops, in the face of seemingly insurmountable opposition, from both those in favor of slavery, as well as the abolitionists, in order to influence enough Congressmen to vote for the bill to get it passed.  We now think of Lincoln as one of the greatest Presidents, but he wasn't seen that way until after his death!  During his Presidency, his was criticized and ridiculed, and opposed more harshly than perhaps any other person of his day.

In our conversations we were expressing our amazement at his achievement and acknowledging Lincoln as a true hero.  And we began to explore what it is that makes a hero.  Heroism isn't just about bravery or conquering an opponent.  It's about acting consistently on the highest sense of integrity and honesty.  This is what Lincoln was able to do with unwavering focus, even in the face of circumstances that were heart-wrenchingly overwhelming and even devastating.

Any time that we act with integrity and honesty for what we sense as in the best interests of all involved, rather than taking the easy way out, it is an act of heroism.  When we are willing to take this narrow path of what Joseph Campbell called "the hero's journey", all manner of circumstances often come to our aid.  Even though Lincoln faced powerful opposition, through his unwavering dedication to the pursuit of justice, the perfect set of circumstances eventually came together to help him achieve his goal.

Even though we're normally not faced with such overwhelming odds, it can nonetheless be difficult to consistently act on what we know is right rather than opting for the easy choice.  When we do, when we choose the heroism of service to others, there is real magic in play.  In that sense heroism is simple but not necessarily easy.  But we do always have this choice, and upon it we build our lives, for good or ill.

Finding the Right Hotel, and a Magical Experience of History

Today I'd like to share a new event planning resource, and a "magical experience" I just enjoyed.

First the resource: it's a new web based system for finding the right hotel for your event. It allows you to directly contact all the participating hotels in a specific area, all in one shot, and provides a platform in which the hotels can choose to send proposals, and you can interact with them. Thus avoiding the need to either go through a professional event planner, or call all the hotels individually. It's called GroupEventsPro.com, and you can read more about it here.

Last weekend was my 22nd wedding anniversary. My wife Kathi and I decided to visit the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, Illinois. What an absolutely amazing place! And an extraordinarily magical experience. The museum is an exciting mix of modern high tech wizardry, detailed historical drama, and a plethora of fascinating facts, narratives, and historic artifacts. The unique combination really takes you into the experience of Lincoln's life in a way that's like nothing you've ever encountered.

What a great way to learn about the past! It really is a multi-dimensional, multi-sensory experience of sight, sound, emotion, much more,... in which history comes alive all around you. (And there are some actual magic techniques in use in at least one of the presentations,... but I won't let the cat out of the bag-- you've got to see it for yourself.)

If you have the chance to get to Springfield, I highly recommend that you take the time to spend a few hours at the museum. I guarantee you won't regret it.