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Spring Thaw

It’s a lovely Sunday afternoon here in lovely Schuylkill County. The snow is all gone and trees are beginning to bud. It’s the kind of environment to inspire optimism.

Optimism

Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don’t wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it’s at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savored.
~Earl Nightingale

It is often hard to maintain a state of optimism but it is a point of view that I value above all others.

I’m optimistic that my aches and pains will resolve with the medication I’ve been provided.

I’m optimistic that I’ll get through my colonoscopy with no untoward findings.

I’m optimistic that I’ll get my desktop PC to share files with my laptop over the wifi
as was the case before I got on Windows 10.

I’m optimistic that my wife and I will grow old together and sit side by side for years to come.

In my opinion, optimism is worth more than gems and gold. Being optimistic can give you the vision to see where your gems and gold will be found.

Milieu

There is nothing like a dream to create the future. ~Victor Hugo

The world in which the Sentinels reside is quite like our own with the obvious difference being that a few people have superpowers.

There are a lot of reasons why superheroes band together to fight evil. Some joined together in times of war to fight the enemy. Some joined up to fight a powerful villain. Some were recruited by government agencies to combat criminal cartels. The Sentinels were convened to give life to a dream.

Of course, dreams can be good or bad.

Lucky’s dream is to create a superhero team like the Avengers or the Justice League. Lucky is an attorney whose godfather saved him from a DUI who had jumped the curb onto a sidewalk where he was riding his bike. When a six-year-old saw his godfather holding a runaway car over his head, it sparked an interest in comic books and the ethos of superheroes. It became a lifelong dream for Lucky to form a superhero team. His dream is to have these superheroes serve as an embodiment of optimism in his world.

Unfortunately, not all dreams are nice ones. There are forces in Lucky’s world that don’t want people to be optimistic. They want people to live in fear and oppression so they can live in opulence. They are the Conclave and they have been cultivating dark powers to enrich their despicable lives at the expense of everyone else in the world.

Character Arc

Idealism increases in direct proportion to one’s distance from the problem. ~John Galsworthy

Lucky wanted to create the Sentinels in order to serve as a beacon of optimism in his world, but he does not have superpowers. He is distant from the problem despite his personal focus on addressing it. It’s good because he can maintain his idealism and provide that for his team. It’s not so good for Lucky because he can only ever be a spectator and cheerleader. It’s his life’s mission but he can’t really participate.

On the other hand, there’s a new recruit for the Sentinels whose lifelong dream was to be in the team. She has discovered her superpower and is being evaluated for membership. That’s good for her because she’ll get to be a Sentinel but it’s not so good because she’ll be losing her distance from the problem. Growing up a fan of the Sentinels is far different than joining them in the daily fight against evil.

That’s my teaser for now. I’ve got other writing to attend to. I hope you’re having a lovely weekend wherever you are.