Grayson’s Log
June 22:
It’s been almost five months since the death of my mentor, friend, and father figure died at the hands of Darkseid. Gotham City knew my mentor as Bruce Wayne: millionaire playboy. I knew him as Bruce Wayne: Batman. My name is Dick Grayson. Bruce took me in after my parent’s died and made me the first Robin. I eventually left to fight crime as Nightwing, but since his death, I’ve returned to Gotham. I’ve dropped the Nightwing mask and donned the cowl of The Bat. The shoes are rather large, and very difficult to fill. For his part, Tim has left the manor and become Red Robin, but most importantly I’ve taken on Damian as my Robin. Damian Wayne, Bruce’s son, I see so much of Bruce in him. He has Bruce’s sharp keen intelligence, and looks just like him. It’s been strange, yet comforting having him around. But as soothing as his presence is, it has also been hard. Damian has so much anger in him: anger over his father’s death, anger at me for donning the cowl, and anger at the world. I have to teach him how to control this anger, which is the main reason I took him under my wing.
June 26:
Today I found Damian in Wayne Tower talking to Hush. Hush is a criminal who cut off parts of his victim’s faces to make himself look like and so to frame Bruce Wayne. Damian and Hush were playing chess. Afterwards I talked to Damian about it. He said it was just to play chess with a worthy opponent, but I knew he was trying to grieve for his father. I continued to ask him about it, and finally got him to converse with me. I let him know that we all suffer, and that the cause of our suffering is our addictions. For him it is his addiction to anger and grief. This made him angry and he stormed off.
That night we stopped a robbery and he took a pole to the robber’s head. I scolded him and explained: “Damian! This is what I’m talking about. You can’t go around bashing people’s heads in. It’s not what the good guys do. You are addicted to this anger and violence, and unless you let it go, you will never find peace and be able to fill your father’s shoes.”
He responded: “I could fill them better than you!”
To this I yelled: “I am doing the best that I can! ... Look, I don’t want to fight. I’m hurting just as much as you are, and all I want to do is help you. Look nothing we do is permanent, we all change. Change happens, people die, but we need to be able to move on from it. Let me help you. I don’t mean just emotionally either. I can make you the best Robin ever. I was the original after all.”
“Fine Dick, I’ll try it your way” he responded.
“Great we’ll start tomorrow, but tonight I think we both earned a good night’s sleep.”
June 28
Damian has been progressing steadily. I’ve decided to choose lessons and tasks that will seem to mainly focus on making him a better Robin, but will ultimately get rid of his addiction to his anger. I decided to start him off with the lessons with a lessons in banter, ethics, and inclinations.
“All right Damian. One of your biggest problems as Robin is that you don’t know banter. You have to have the right speech . You have to talk better.”
“I talk fine!” he responded.
“No you just threaten the villains. You need to make fun of them, and make puns at them. You need to talk ‘nicely.’”
“Fine, I’ll work on my puns. Do you have any other suggestions oh pointy one?”
“Yes. We’re the good guys, which means we have to adhere to certain rules. You can’t go smashing in someone’s head after they’re already unconscious. We have to be ethical. I know this goes against your training in the League of Shadows, but you can’t cause long-term damage.”
“Okay, I’ll work on it.”
“The last thing I want you to start working on is doing what you know is right. The reason you have so much anger is because it is being fueled by your wrong actions. Maybe you can start trusting people. Tim and I both have been in your shoes, maybe you need to build up your friendships.”
“Okay! Gosh, anything else?”
July 3
Damian has improved so much. The other day when facing Mr. Freeze he said, “It’s time for you to chill out.” The puns not only have made him a better Robin, but also made him a happier person. His violence has also gone down, and I even caught him calling Tim Drake for advice. After this progress I decided that time to treat his mental problems including his anger. I called him into the Batcave.
“Hey Damian, I just wanted to thank you for working as hard as you have,” I said.
“Whatever,” he responded.
“I have a couple more things I wanted to talk to you about. You’re still very angry. You have to get over this and the only way to do that is to practice. You have to make an effort.”
“Well how in the world do you expect me to do that?”
“I know your father and I both found meditation very helpful. I want you to think of everything that isn’t wrong. Think of all the positives in your life. You have so much going for you.” I hope he takes what I said to heart.
July 28
It has been a month since I first started working on Damian’s problems. He has been meditating and practicing his good actions. He has accepted me as his mentor, and I accept him as not only my protégé, but also a friend. I have to make sure that he stays on the path though. So tonight on our run through town I said: “Damian you really have improved.”
“I hate to admit it, but you were right. I was so angry at everyone because I missed my dad, and I know you miss him too,” Damian said.
“I know that, and that’s why I wanted to help you. It is still a constant battle though. We have to make sure we stay on the path, do what’s right, and keep the right frame of mind.”
“Yeah, it’s hard, but I know we both can do it.”
I really feel a connection with Damian now. It’s almost like Bruce’s and mine but reversed. I know this partnership is going to be a great one.
Bibliography
Burke, T. Patrick. The Major Religions: An Introduction with Texts. 2nd ed. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell, Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2004.
Nhá̂t, Thich Hạnh. Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life. New York, NY: Bantam, 1991. Print.12