Take first this quick wiki excerpt for context.
"In Greek mythology, the Lernaean Hydra was an ancient serpent-like water monster, with reptilian traits (as its name evinces), that possessed many heads — the poets mention more heads than the vase-painters could paint, and for each head cut off it grew two more — and poisonous breath and blood so virulent even its tracks were deadly. Lerna was the site of the myth of the Danaids. Beneath the waters was an entrance to the Underworld, and the Hydra was its guardian.
The Hydra was one of the offsprings of Typhon and Echidna (Theogony, 313), both of whom were noisome offspring of the earth goddess Gaia. (oddly enough this is a cat of ours...as seen in link)"
Now if you know me at all you are probably thinking one of two things...cool, this will go so well with your dinosaur tattoo, or this is one of those weird analogies that doesnt really make sense isn't it,that leads to more analogies and obscurity? Well I will tell you something. It is both cool, and one of those analogies!
Let's look past the reptilian traits (though i seem to get along well in most scenarios much like a chameleon), and the poisonous breath and virulent blood to the part about many heads. Here in lies the point of this analogy.
At one point in my life I possessed two heads...figuratively. I was the child of two wonderful parents and a younger brother immediately. Now this did not last long because once my conscious kicked in around the ripe age of 3~7? (its a big gap but somewhere it kicked in i am sure of it) I had my head chopped off....figuratively....and it came back with two in it's place....figuratively speaking of course. When I knew I was not the youngest child I now had the head of a son, and the head of a younger and older brother. (Do you see where this is going?) Welcome to the world "Batman" and thank you for my second head removal moment.
Fast forward life through all those teenage year, high school, college, military (at some point I can talk about all of them but we are getting close to the juicy bit) to when I met my wife. No more head removal for the moment because you get the splits here I am sure. (sure...a word that means not yes, not no, but an androgynous slightly engaged sort of. My wife hates this word. Want to go to the store...sure...is that a yes or a no...its a non committal retort my dove because I am happy anywhere.)
Here in lies the true meaning of this post. How many heads can one person have before they start to spread themselves too thin, or lose credibility in one area or another? A few, a lot? Well my simple head count has me at 8 major life roles. My self (the immortal one that has to be removed to kill the whole beast obviously, read your mythology), a husband, a father, a son, a brother, an in-law, an employee, and a friend. As each head grows and is removed a new set of more complex head fill it's void (i.e. father of 2 one day will replace father). The goal of the Hydra is never to add a new tangled extension, rather to protect the underworld at all cost.
One thing of interest is the artwork behind the Hydra....
show us a tangled web of necks, as the hero valiantly attempts to slay the overwhelming beast. The tangle creates chaos, suspense, embellishes the already enormous challenge. In a round about sort of way the monster is what I see here as the challenge. How can it control all of those heads, in unison, for one goal, to destroy Heracles and protect the passage to the underworld (a centralized brain somewhere in it's chest? HAH no way!). Simple, it's a monster in a story and monsters don't have to deal with waking up early, working late, living away from your family and friends, loving, learning, they just had to be nasty which to most is easier than being kind. Could you imagine a nice monster protecting a passage? "Sorry sir you can't pass, no really I am going to get into a lot of trouble if you go down there, okay well if you are going please mind your step and take this flashlight" See how much harder that was than spitting venom with 100 heads!
Here in lies my second obscure analogy of this post as I am embodying this multi-headed monster what is it that I am protecting relentlessly? That is what I wake up for every day isn't it? My goal. My challenge. My underworld (how mysterious and sexy). Ironically my underworld is being everyone's hero. That's a circular mind bomb isn't it? I look forward to the next time I can go out of my way to make someone else's day better and to a fault. FYI flights don't ever get cancelled and you leave 2 hours earlier...that 7 is PM, not AM so don't go driving to the airport in the snow...
But it is what makes me happy, and makes me sad. I can not be everyone's hero...8 separate rolls can cause for a lot of opportunities to help and weave a tangled web. So I struggle to find balance, to step back and focus on what is most important. To do my best to help when I can, or must.
Here in lies my conclusion to this epic (not the popular term now days, but the literal meaning- uber long) post. I want my next tattoo to be a hydra (because my brother could draw a badass one) because it reminds me that there are so many different heads a set of shoulders can hold, yet they all carry the same goal. Protect what is important to you. Remain focused and don't get tangled up as you strive to achieve that goal, and by all means do not lose your self, or else the whole beast is lost.
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