GMP is having a site-wide conversation about men and shame. Read the stories here and consider sharing one of your own.
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At my very core I felt unworthy as a potential romantic partner. I felt flawed. I felt like I wasn’t good enough. So (my mind told me) if anyone wanted emotional intimacy with me, I might as well sabotage the relationship as quickly as possible so as to not poison their lives. -Jordan Gray, Shame: Learning to Love Again After a Devastating Break-Up
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Last week, GMP started an important conversation about men, shame, and vulnerability. Shame lives in darkness. It’s where it thrives and gets its oxygen. When shame, and the pain that accompanies it, is spoken, it cannot live. Bringing shame into the light minimizes its power.
It’s our sincere hope that in speaking their truth and talking about their pain, that these writers will find their authentic voice and experience the personal power that comes from speaking their truth.
In The Shame of Our Lives, Jed Diamond shares a personal example from his marriage to illustrate how shame is often at the root of marital strife and pain.
Bryan Reeves realized he was using relationships to fill empty spaces within him and decided to give up women for thirty days. He joined our video channel and shared his story there.
Tony Posnanski opened up about food addiction and shared What It’s Like to Weigh 380 Pounds and Order a Salad.
On January 1st, when most of us were celebrating the new year, US Marine Jonathan Buzin, was facing the end of his life, as he knew it. He watched the woman he loved leave. He shares in pain-filled journey and recovery in When ‘Carpe Diem” Might Get You Killed.
Dennis Gildorf remembers feeling shame when he was as young as 5. He calls it his shame identity and talks about how he changed his view of himself and found self-acceptance.
Jed Diamond returns, sharing his personal journey toward self-acceptance about weight and lifestyle in Weight Loss is About Shame.
Jordan Gray poignantly looks back on a time when his sensitivity was rejected by the woman he loved. He tells us it was his greatest source of both pain and growth in Shame: Learning to Love Again After a Devastating Break-Up.
We can still be strong, adequate men, even when we are weak. -Jed Diamond, The Shame of Our Lives
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Our entire series on men, shame, and vulnerability:
Shame: Learning to Love Again After a Devastating Break-Up
The Way Out of Shame is Through Connection
What It’s Like to Weigh 380 Pounds and Order a Salad
When ‘Carpe Diem” Might Get You Killed
I Gave Up Women for 30 Days and This is What Happened
Man on Fire: The Shame and Pain of Depression
There is Beauty in Your Vulnerability
The Shame of Remembering Your Past Mistakes — How “Normal” Is Your Heart?
Shame: Is GMP Part of the Problem?
My On-Again, Off-Again Relationship With Shame
It’s a Shame to Lose Your Job…Not!
Abuse Was Something Done to You. It Doesn’t Define You
Life Lessons for a Slut-Shamed Man
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Want to share a personal story about shame? Find more information here.
Photo: Cloudzilla/Flickr
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See my talk on Male Shame on Youtube. The stories of these men are related to the issues I explore. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL3Yow2KWFs