In Weir's stories, the most important assets are accumulated knowledge, patience, curiosity, and the understanding that you need collaborators. Not magic, not muscle, not weapons, not even bravery, really.
As Americans feel increasingly pessimistic about the future, the pressure to "stay positive" has never been more intense-or misplaced. Psychology has long shown that suppressing difficult emotions does not make them disappear. It makes the nervous system more reactive. When sadness, fear, and anger are treated as problems to eliminate rather than signals to understand, the brain remains on high alert. This is one reason forced positivity so often backfires, amplifying anxiety rather than easing it.
What makes a protagonist cool? When it comes to heroic narratives, there tends to be a binary; either our star character is tight-lipped and detached, or they are forthright and obvious. This dichotomy is probably best exemplified as the difference between DC's Batman and Superman. Regardless of all the evidence to the contrary, our shared default notions of the two heroes come down to this: Batman is brooding, a man of few words, while Superman often smiles and is generally more chatty.
The Sun is a major arcana card that represents big themes like happiness, optimism, and contentment, as well as a sense of confidence and youthfulness. In the days ahead, don't be surprised if you find yourself thriving more than you'd think. When this card appears in a tarot reading, it suggests you'll be in a good mood, and you might even have some extra energy to... I don't know... go out on a Wednesday night?
"Yeah, it sucked, but it was part of it," he said. "Stay positive. And I knew I was eventually going to come back, so I just had to stay with it."
