After birth, human beings associate themselves with different “wombs” to
feel safe and protected after leaving the protection of the womb of the mother.
This artificial womb can be a nation, a political party, a club, any group that
a member will sacrifice individuality in return for safety.

Adopting the principles of said group in exchange for association, most of
the time without questioning the validity of the beliefs or the motive or the
group, in order to feel safe and sheltered in the group from the dangers of the
world is something we all do to a larger or lesser degree. 

After the womb, the family unit becomes the new womb, this is why a strong
family unit can prevent individuals from seeking the safety of the womb in the
wrong group in order to feel protected, associated, and secure. The
family, a secure and strong family, protects the child and instills in the
child the beliefs that will help the child navigate the world, and when done
correctly, prepares the child to become a strong individual that can stand
alone because the child knows they have backing and support of the family, and
so they don’t have to seek the protection of another group that may not have
their best interest in mind.

If the family unit does not provide security, an outside source is sought
out. Friend groups, gangs, political parties, or clubs are joined, and the
individual slowly sells those parts of themselves that are unique or have the
potential for genius to the group to feel belonging and safety. 

This is why I believe the typical archetype of the hero is usually an
orphaned individual, who never had a group to associate with, and has to turn
to themselves for protection and security becomes a strong individual that goes
against the grain of society. There was no security, there was no artificial
womb to crawl back into to feel warm, safe and secure. The pain and suffering
of being torn from the womb and being isolated allowed for the opportunity for
the hero to become strong, unique and a true individual. 

That’s not to say all who are orphaned or isolated can handle the pressure
and pain of being alone with no psychological womb to hide inside of. Some fall
to insanity, some fall into evil becoming the thing to fear instead of the
fearful, and some find security and strength in themselves to stand
alone. Some become the hero, and some become the villain. The hero and the
villain usually have similar backgrounds, but different end results.

Movies and stories of heroes often portray this truth and perhaps we as a
society subconsciously understand and we admire the hero because they have what
we fail to possess, which is fearless individuality and self-reliance. 

Often the hero finds a mentor or group of like-minded individuals to serve
as an artificial womb, individuals who, like the hero, has experienced and
survived the horrors of being completely self-reliant and ultimate
responsibility for oneself, with no one else to fall back upon. Often this
mentor or group is the factor that prevents the hero from becoming a villain
because being alone and contending alone for one’s survival can often be so
terrible that you can become an aggressive and reactive animal, living just to
survive and so bitter from suffering that you resent others.

This desire to belong is so strong that it has caused many a person to
abandon their moral compass in exchange for membership to the group, to the
womb of protection and security that the group provides. 

The trust in the group that develops from the protection provided by it
represses critical thinking of the individual because going against the group
mentality threatens the security provided by association to the group.
Therefore, expressing opinions in the group is covertly repressed, a threat to
the mentality of the group is defended by the members of the group to firmly
establish that member’s security within the group. It is akin to crabs in a
barrel, pulling down the crab that dares to climb out the top. 

This is why we also admire the individual who is so uniquely themselves,
that cares not for public opinion, because we secretly yearn for this power and
security ourselves yet cannot bring ourselves to part from the protection of
the womb that our group provides us. Our inability to break from our base
instincts is hard to acknowledge in ourselves and the hero’s ability to do so
is what we recognize in heroes and long to possess within ourselves. 

Perhaps the true hero is the one who accepts a group they deem to be
righteous from their experience gained as an individual without the influence
of a group, and the hero does not fear maintaining their individuality and
challenging their own group when it strays from the truth. 

Ask yourself if you have sought out the protection of the womb in a group,
and if you have, does that group support the same principles you believe in, or
have you merely adopted their principles in exchange for their protection?
Would you stand up to your group if you knew what they were doing or what they
believed in wasn’t righteous and true? Are you a hero, or have you been living
as one of the flock, being lead wherever someone else wants to lead you because
you fear being separated from the safety of the flock?

Remember that you are never truly safe. Life is dangerous, you can do
everything you were told to do and be a good up-standing citizen and still be
struck down with illness or by senseless violence or killed in a tragic
accident. Will living as a sheep be worth it if that happens?

The wolves may be less likely to attack the flock, but sometimes they still
do, and one day it will be over and will you pass from this world knowing you
never lived how you wanted to because you were too afraid to be an individual,
or did you live how you thought you should live even though you didn’t have a
group to protect you?

Perhaps this is what being an adult is all about. Finding a way to stand on
your own and not doing or saying things because the artificial womb you’ve
found to protect yourself from the horrors of the world told you to do so.

Belonging to a group isn’t necessarily a bad thing. You don’t have to live
your whole life as an outcast to be a hero. Often the hero finally finds a
group worth belonging to and serves as a protector and leader of the group and
brings it value and ensures that the group doesn’t stray too far from the
truth.

Knowing who you are is something you have to do alone, by tearing yourself
away from the protection of the womb, and building relationships, strong and
healthy relationships, is based on being who you actually are and not upon
acting like someone who you are not.

Live out your own genuine being.

What do you think about my the womb and the hero theory? Let me
know in the comments or email me.