There’s a phrase being used right now, calling for all of us to act like we have “main character energy“. To act as if we are the protagonist in the stories of our lives. I’d say, “well, what else are we supposed to act like?” but I know the answer. We act as if we are invisible. We act as if our actions have no meaning. We are the watchers. We are not the watched. We watch the main characters on our screens, we read about them in books. But we maintain our control, our power, our place – outside looking in. 

No wonder we’re in such a mess. No wonder we wander the earth, dressed in plastic, in endless seas of black and white… no color, no life, no interest. A watcher need only be comfortable, and shouldn’t draw attention. Outsiders. Novel readers. It gives us the illusion of safety. Nothing in the spotlight can touch us. No one can criticize, because no one will see. Invisible. 

This encourages us to think that we cannot effect change, it encourages us to think that our words don’t matter, that our efforts are better spent on ourselves. It makes us critics of those who do enter the spotlight, ruthless critics. It makes us weak, fearful, endlessly caught up in useless conflicts, and progressively more useless.

But what if we stepped up and decided to embrace that main character energy? If we slapped on our tiaras and got on with the business of being beautiful, got on with the business of being kind, got on with the business of doing the -whateverthings- we know we have been called to do in this world, if we got on with the business of creating change. Our main character energy might move mountains, if we showed up.

You are important. I am important. We – humans – are important, and we have important work to do. If you spend your time on one side of the aisle, you will be told that humans are a problem. If you stand on the other side of the aisle, you will be told that humans are to consume. Neither side seems to think that the humans are supposed to make things better. ”They” would rather you didn’t have any main character energy, because they prefer to be the main characters. It’s so much easier to steer if everyone else will sit down and shut up.

We were created to be main characters. You have to take ownership of a place, of a group of people, of a problem, of a box of fabric, etc. in order to improve – or even maintain – anything. But if you take the wrong sort of ownership, you might end up thinking that being in the position of owner gives you the right to tilt everything to your own benefit. Fabric and problems and places – and people.  

“We teach them not to notice the different sense of the possessive pronoun .. . Even in the nursery a child can be taught to mean by “my Teddy-bear” not the old imagined recipient of affection to whom it stands in a special relation (for that is what the Enemy will teach them to mean if we are not careful) but “the bear I can pull to pieces if I like.” – C.S. Lewis (Screwtape Letters)

Each of us has a thing that he or she does best, that she or he was called to do. We each have several things we do very well and have a duty to get about doing. We each have a realm of influence, we’re each in a different season of life. We’ve been given different resources both physical and metaphysical to get on with it – but we all have a duty. And “they” would much rather we did not. That we took all this main character energy and spent it on hating one another rather than solving problems or even painting the fence.

We aren’t supposed to be observers, sitting around feeling guilty about taking up resources. And we’re not supposed to just sit around taking up resources willy-nilly. We were made to create. To bless, to guard … to live. 

You’re important. It’s time to start treating yourself like you’re important, and take on that “main character energy” that they talk about. 

Having main character energy means that we Do The Thing. We don’t wait for permission, we do it. Whether “it” is cleaning a floor or kissing our husband hello or running a marathon, main characters DO.  And, ladies and gentlemen, there is a very great deal that needs DOING. We don’t need any more observers, please – the spotlight is where the change will happen.

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