The Messenger

What a wonderful time to be alive; In an age where the very world is at our fingertips and with a press of a button, you can hurdle your ideas and thoughts across the atlas and reach into the hearts and minds of millions without ever being physically present. Such a beautiful and equally dangerous power holstered by anyone who dares to “Sign-in” or “Log-on”. With technology creating a platform for obtaining wants and needs, satisfying our gratification instantly, where does patience fit in our society? With social media painting the illusion of connecting with others in the face of sharing our own lives, where has our care for each other gone? or maybe it’s better to ask, where’s has the understanding of ourselves gone? Its easy to get lost in the fast paced world of the internet and today, its almost the standard of living but, via my experiences, there must be balance.

On the internet, I’m Ricky Mena. A man the world has come to know and recognize as the face and name behind the acts of kindness hidden beneath the mask of a well known hero; Spider-Man. In real life, I’m much more but, then again, aren’t we all? I’ve utilized this amazing technology to leverage whats left of our humanity in each individual human being who’s come across my posts and I’ve done it with the upmost finesse and care. Ever since a child I knew I was different because of the way I viewed things. It was a plus when I found out that I could take my perception and illustrate it with words without loosing anything in transition between my mind and my pen. From my life as a musician/song writer to the one I live now as the masked hero for children, I understood that expressing myself was equally as important as my actions. If I couldn’t bring the reader into the room and situation with me, enough in my writings to feel it as much as I did, I’d be limiting the distance that love and its vibration could go; ultimately minimizing the impact on lives who potentially NEEDED it as much as the child and family I was visiting.

So, as the world grew faster towards the stars, I found such great importance in the simple yet complex fundamentals of my roots at ground level. For me, being sharp in all aspects (as a person) meant being versatile; and the more versatile I could be, the more people I could reach. Majority of my life I’ve spent more time alone than in the presence of others because I found better understanding for myself and who I was within the silence peace offered. Turns out, learning about myself was the best thing I did not only for me but, the world too. As much as I hit the gym to test the boundaries of every muscle and their fibers, physically, I’ve flexed the ability of my mind through the art form of not only writing but also, allowing myself to feel. I’ve found that being capable of effortlessly diving into the depths of your mind stems from your vulnerability emotionally. This is why being Spider-Man organically works for me and inherently is good for those I visit. I’m able to intersect my mind with my heart, combine their powers, and use them in unison, As one, to help others. The situations I’ve placed myself within, voluntarily, have exposed my heart tremendously; thus leaving me vulnerable. Completely. Allowing myself to freely submerge my presence in to my emotions when extremely high, extremely low, and everything in between, forces the mind to strengthen itself as well as the heart. This is where I realized, my pain was an opportunity to grow and with my unique abilities of story telling, it was the worlds opportunity at better understanding growth and its process via my sacrifices and the sacrifices of the children. This means, no child’s life will ever have to go in vain. Especially if their battles created better people. For if the children contain the message, I am simply the messenger.

When people ask me “How do you keep doing this after kids continue dying?”, I simply answer with “God” and although that’s the truth, the complete answer is much more complex than that. While a vast majority of the world uses technology to post selfies, post about doing mundane tasks such as laundry, and or flashing material objects in hopes of superficial praise to justify importance and or relevance, I’m not too concerned with the comings and goings of this world. What’s beautiful is, nothing I do for anyone out of kindness needs votes and no one can stop me from committing random acts of kindness or sharing it to the masses with the press of a button.

If anything, I am the proof that every ounce of who you are can be utilized as a tool to help someone else and just because our lives are caught in the rapid current of the world wide web (pun intended lol), you can choose to use it differently and STILL be a factor. All I’m saying is, BE YOU and never conform to the confines of what everyone else is doing because you could very well miss the opportunity to create your own legacy. Your grave stone will not show the accumulative number of lifetime “likes” you received on pictures and posts and if you never give them more than your face to remember, you wont be remembered at all. Take this incredible gift of technology while existing in an age of information being passed at supersonic speeds and use it to maximize the intellectual integrity of the human race who will occupy this space when we don’t. Have the courage to turn the screen off for a while, sit with yourself, and be brave enough to embrace the person you find in the silence. Dive fearlessly into situations that leave you vulnerable and broken in the name of love because regardless of what happens, you’ll be better for it and so will those you share your experiences with. When the time comes for the movie of your life to play in a flash before your eyes close one last time, this is what will matter most. I promise.

“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” – Pericles

Go Be Great.

-Ricky Mena

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