Superheroes Anonymous To Hold Third Annual Real Life Superhero Conference

Over one hundred Real Life Superheroes to descend upon The Secret City – New Bedford, MA for three-day Labor Day Weekend Volunteering Extravaganza and Conference!!!

Who: Real Life Superheroes!

What: Third Annual Superheroes Anonymous Gathering

Where: Locations throughout New Bedford, MA

When: Saturday, Sept 5^th – Monday, Sept 7^th with Main Event on Sunday, Sept 6^th

Participating organizations include The American Red Cross, Horizons for Homeless Children, The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and The New Bedford Police Department.

Real Life Superheroes are costumed activists who don their own unique personas – outfits based upon the styles of our iconic fictional predecessors – and to do public works of good. We hope through our recognizable dress to inspire the superhero inside everyone!

In order to fulfill our goal of inspiring the public towards positive change, your coverage is requested. Feel free to attend any of the following:

Saturday, 09/05 – Superhero Workshops held at Rebelo’s Kenpo Karate, 88 Hatch St

11 AM:  Self Defense & Mixed Martial Arts Workshop taught by Dark Guardian

12 PM:  CPR/First Aid Workshop taught by Night Owl, Fire Safety Instructor in Iraq

1 PM: Disarming an Enemy taught by Senior Instructor Joseph P. Rebelo II

At 6 PM: Official Meeting of Superheroes Anonymous. *The Meeting is a private event only for superheroes. Any press wishing to attend must register. No audio or video recording will be allowed.

Sunday, 09/06- 1PM-3PM: “Superheroes Anonymous: Secret City Soup” Food-Drive Fair

Location: The Bristol Building, 752 Purchase St in downtown New Bedford

Local residents will bring food donations to benefit Horizons for Homeless Children and to participate in activities, including: Live music performed by socially conscious hip hop artist, Tem Blessed. Public workshops including self-defense, make-your-own mask crafts, and ID Card Creation by The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children.

*This event may be a good time to pull willing superheroes aside for a quick interview. Please respect their time at this event and limit interviews to 10 minutes. You are more than welcome to schedule an extended interview after the event. Thank you.

The event will conclude on:

Monday, 09/07

8 AM – 10 AM: Morning Beach Cleanup at Hazelwood Park located at West Rodney French Blvd. We will conduct an environmental sweep of the glorious beaches of New Bedford from Dudley St to South Rodney French Blvd.

Afterwards, the superheroes will say their farewells and slowly depart back to their own locations throughout America, each one with their resolve strengthened to be a greater superhero than before.

Again, thank you for your interest in Superheroes Anonymous. For further information, inquiries or to obtain registration, please contact:

Life@superheroesanonymous.com

or

civitron@superheroesanonymous.com

We greatly appreciate your coverage and help in spreading the word to the world about Real Life Superheroes. More information can be found at www.superheroesanonymous.com and www.reallifesuperheroes.org

Sincerely,

Chaim “Life” Lazaros

Co-Founder

Superheroes Anonymous

You Are the Champion the World Is Waiting For

By C.J. Hayden, MCC 

This is a work in progress. As I use this material with my clients and students, speak and write about it, and discuss it with colleagues, it continues to evolve. At present, it is available as a one-hour talk, ongoing discussion group, and a full-day workshop. Over time, it is becoming a full-length book. Your comments are welcome! 

Here are the eight steps I have identified to becoming a hero: 

1. Develop your heroic qualities. The way to begin is by putting yourself in situations that evoke your higher self rather than your lower. Even if you do not yet know what your heroic quest will be, you can prepare yourself for it. And in preparing for the quest, you will develop those same faculties you need to hear the call to heroism that has not yet arrived. You are trying on the hero’s mantle. Colloquially speaking, your task in this phase is to fake it ’til you make it. 

2. Listen for the call. The call is the inspired message that describes your mission in life, vision for a better world, or heroic quest. You may experience it as a strong intuition, sudden realization, divine transmission, or just a subtle wondering. But to hear it, you must first listen for it. Many heroes-in-the-making find specific structures like meditation, prayer, journaling, or artistic endeavors helpful to open up their listening. What you are listening for is a call to greatness — a suggestion, request, or even demand that you step into a role larger than you have ever had before. 

3. Take action. It’s not enough to suspect or even know what your mission or quest to be of service might be. To become a hero, you must act on your heightened awareness. Even if you aren’t sure you interpreted the call correctly, it is only by beginning to take action on your understanding that you will be sure. To move into action, you must get past the initial refusal of the call that every hero experiences. 

4. Meet the dragon. Your worst enemy on the hero’s journey is your own internal dragon of negativity, fear, and self-doubt. This piece of yourself tries to prevent you from fulfilling your heroic destiny. This dragon cannot be slain; you must meet it in its lair and develop strategies for continuing to take action. The dragon will continue to co-exist with the positive qualities that make it possible for you to be heroic. 

5. Commit to the quest. It’s entirely possible for you to get this far in the hero’s journey without yet having made a commitment to your mission. You may be unsure of the authenticity of the call, lack confidence in your abilities, or be surrounded by unfavorable conditions. Regardless, without commitment, your mission will ultimately fail. This is the point when you must declare yourself a hero, ready or not. 

6. Seek guidance. The hero’s life can be lonely and difficult without the aid of human and spirit guides. Finding sources of ongoing guidance to support your mission can be critical to its success. Books, films, music, and art can all provide guidance, but the best guides are real people and a connection with the divine. 

7. Make a plan. In my original writings about this subject, I neglected to add this step. It is an amusing omission, given that my own claim to fame in the world is based on creating action plans. But what I have seen is that new heroes who follow the six steps above, but never develop a plan, ultimately cannot carry out their mission. They have good intentions, but sloppy execution. A dream and the will to begin only carry them so far. To continue on with their quest, they must have a method, a process, a vehicle for their dream to become reality. 

8. Stay the course. In my initial formula, I left this stage out also. But yet, it is the most difficult one of all. The hero must keep going despite opposition, catastrophe, and the small, distracting details of everyday life. It’s just as hard to be a hero while taking out the trash as it is to be one while your marriage is falling apart. To remain on the heroic path, you must stay vigilant and develop perseverance.

Piecing Together a Practical Crime-Fighting Costume

By René DeLavoye

In the real world, the most important qualities of a crime-fighting

costume are, in order of importance, protection, practicality,

agility, and style.

Contrary to what comic books might have led you to believe, the

traditional crime-fighting costume archetype offers little protection,

restricts sight, hearing and physical movement. For instance,

Batman’s traditional mask muffles his hearing ability and restricts

his peripheral vision; his armored gloves prevent him from tying even

shoe laces, and his cape restricts his movement.

Believe it or not, you don’t need tons of money to put together a

decent, practical crime-fighting costume. And much of what’s required

is available at your local sports stores.

Here, then, is how to piece together such a suit:

Step 1: Swallow your pride and purchase a full-body ballet leotard.

Not only do they slim the figure and accentuate whatever muscles you

might have, they also allow for full body movement.

Step 2: Go to your local sports equipment store and purchase the

following items:

       - solid-colored martial arts hand and forearm pads

       - football thigh, tail bone, and hip pads

       - solid-colored baseball umpire shin guards

       - skater elbow pads

Step 3: Order a bullet-proof vest of your choice from any of many

online stores offering personal protection equipment. I would

recommend one.

Step 4: Swallow your pride and order one or more pairs of

solid-colored women’s full-fingered satin or velvet gloves from any

of many online stores offering such things. (As tempting as it might

be to settle for regular, Wal-Mart-brand gloves, they do not offer the

sensitivity necessary to so much as tie your own shoe laces.)

Step 5: Purchase running footwear the same color as the shin guards

you purchased.

Step 6: Go to a typical retail store, and purchase a

number of variously-sized camera pouches with belt loops. Attach them

to a belt to fashion a utility belt.

Step 7: Go to a reputable costume supply store and purchase a mask

that in no way restricts your peripheral vision or your ability to

breathe, preferably of a single color. These typically sell for under

$10. The one I myself own is exactly the same as this

one: http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/4245575/2/istockphoto_4245575-silver-mask.jpg

Alternative Step 7: Purchase a RuRoc helmet.

Step 8: Put it all on.

Step 9: How to safely introduce yourself to the public without

revealing your identity and without drawing the suspicion of the local

authorities will present your biggest challenge. But it can be done

thusly: On Halloween, the day when lots of people go out in costumes,

visit everything from the local mall to the local retail stores to the

local fast food restaurants and gas stations. You need not necessarily

purchase anything. Act normal, as though you do this sort of thing

every day. On the day after Halloween, visit Wal-Mart after midnight.

More unique people shop at night than do during the day. Again, act

completely normal. It is imperative that you catch the eyes of

Wal-Mart’s hired police help, who will be standing around somewhere

in the store. Repeat the next night.

At some point, one of Wal-Mart’s police help will ask you to remove

your mask and produce some I.D. Do not resist, but ask to take your

mask off only some place in the store where the customers will not see

you. They will record your identity and make a note or two about you.

They might then ask that you cease going around in a mask. At this

point, tell them that, under US Law, men and women can do just that.

Use orthodox Muslim women and their burquas, which reveal only their

eyes, as an example of this.

The matter settled, your identity known only to local law enforcement

personnel, you can now go throughout the city in your costume as

casually as you desire, day or night.

WEAPONS

I personally recommend that you not carry any lethal weapon, such as a

gun. However, there are a number of exciting non-lethal weapons out

there, such as stun guns and mace, which will fit nicely into your

utility belt. Speaking of things in your utility belt, be sure to also

pack at least two pairs of handcuffs.

Happy costumed crime-fighting!

The show will follow members and groups within the movement as they perform acts of good and live the life of a superhero. It is the first ever show BY and ABOUT Real Life Superheroes and will allow for chances to do good and fight crime unlike any that have previously existed in the movement’s history.

Additionally, the Real Life Superhero show is part of a new direction in MTV programming that aims to inspire the new generation of millenials. You can read about this new direction in The New York Times.

So if you are a Real Life Superhero and are interested in being cast for the show, please contact us by clicking the link below!

From the article:

As people become disillusioned from financial woes and a downtrodden economy and look to put new purpose in their lives, everyday folks are taking on new personas to perform community service, help the homeless and even fight crime.

“The movement is growing,” said Ben Goldman, a real-life superhero historian. Goldman, along with Chaim “Life” Lazaros and David “Civitron” Civitarese, runs the New York-based Web site Superheroes Anonymous as part of an initiative dedicated to organizing and making alliances with superhero groups.

Anyway, check it out! 

Click here to read more.

From the article:

So, our Day of Action is a call to action, particularly for Fathers present, past, future, faux to give the gift of time to a kid.

On Saturday, June 20, from 1 to 2 p.m. the Born Learning Connection will help people learn how to engage young children in developmental play and activities during the second dedication of a Born Learning Trail in Brown Pool Park, Pendleton.

It may not be associated with the movement of Real Life Superheroes, but if anything it goes to show you how the concept of superheroes are being used to promote activism across the country and the world.

You can check out the original article on The Herald Bulletin website.