In a Flash

March 6, 2025

My friend Freyda is able to leap into small children's heads in a single bound.

If a power is the ability to get something done, a super power is something deeper: an ability so seamlessly integrated that it feels effortless, a joyful instinct rather than a mere skill. Freyda is the director of TYKEs Theatre, and everyone who knows her has seen her special brand of X-ray kid vision in action: She sees through children's eyes, steps into their worlds, and speaks their language without ever talking down to them. Her warmth and energy is mirrored right back by the kids, who feel seen and understood in a flash.

Super powers come in many forms: Some are grand, like the doctor who can integrate years of observations to diagnose a mystery condition. Some are subtle, like the teacher who makes every student feel capable, or the friend who automatically knows the right person to call when you need help. A super power can be innate, like Superman's, or it can emerge through practice. Once a power has attained super power status, exercising it is a featherlift rather than a muscular effort... and given the right context, it bursts into being faster than a speeding bullet. Superman doesn’t hesitate to act, he simply must. 

A power that anyone can practice is the ability to spot super powers in others and name them. Imagine if we all told our kids, our friends, our colleagues: That thing you do? That’s amazing. That’s your super power. Naming someone's super power helps them recognize and embrace it, and it encourages them to unleash it on the world as often as possible.

Super powers aren’t just for comic books. They’re real, and waiting to be seen. Start looking for them in yourself and in others, and you'll see them around the corner of every tall building.

—Deb