The Courage of Captain Picard

captain picard day photo

Watching Star Trek you couldn’t help but wonder if Captain Picard was a coward. He was the least courageous in the most important things.

We saw over and over his refusal to love women who loved him. We saw his fear of children and his fear of willingness to be ordinary. We saw him disgusted by being human, and fear of his primal desires.

Yes, I hear people say to me, he loved his ship, he loved his life. It wasn’t fear but a choice. I have to wonder how much of that is true. We can certainly find reasons for what we do. There is no problem justifying our behavior. Yet does what we do make us truly happy? 

Captain Picard seemed happy with his choices. He had a life that he choose twice. I know of no one else who can say that. Yet when he faced certain issues I couldn’t help but feel that he took the easy way out, when the more difficult path would have helped him grow more.

We can always choose the easy path in life. We can play it safe and not put ourselves out there. Yet when we do risk something, we often gain, much, much more than we could have imagined. When we risk ourselves and our conception of ourselves, we often grow more than we understand.

We can look brave by facing dangers from outside like a dog or a threatening person. Yet doesn’t it take a stronger person to look inside ourselves and ask what role we are playing in our own life and others? To admit when we make mistakes, and to correct them when we do? To dare to love even with our imperfections, than to stay single and safe?

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I admire those who risk their comfort for love. I will always risk my comfort for love.