Artwork by the amazing Danny Haas

I was talking to my boss the other day, and he told me he finally realized why I just disappear immediately after work and am unreachable by phone or email until late at night. I chuckled and offhandedly told him it was because I was a superhero. He knows I train martial arts, but I guess it just took awhile to sink in that I have a life outside of my job! It immediately got me thinking; my life, in many ways, is very similar to the super powered heroes that live on the pages of my favorite comic books.

• I disappear from my home and my job, and am unreachable, for hours virtually every day.
• I have a special uniform that I wear only when I am at the gym.
• I fight people.
• I often crawl into bed late at night, bruised and exhausted, long after my wife has fallen asleep.

That train of thought led me to the realization that, in a lot of ways, going to the gym or participating in an activity is very much like a superhero shedding his secret identity and donning his costume!

We set aside the trials and tribulations of the mundane world, put on a “costume” and proceed to get sweaty and sore. I don’t know about you, but it certainly sounds like a normal day for the likes of Green Arrow or Daredevil to me.

Read more →