Get Away
It was a Friday morning and it started like this: everyone woke up about 10:00, we had coffee, ate some pistachios and soft boiled eggs, watched an episode of Black Mirror, then later went to the EAA Airshow for the rest of the day. We geeked out discussing F-35’s, NASA, and how we could train our brains to work smarter, not harder.
Late that night, we heard Michael Collins from the Apollo 11 Mission talk about his orbit around the moon, how his rendezvous with the Eagle Lunar Module shaped the rest of history. Back at Alex’s home, we capped the night with one or a few Moscow Mule’s.
In short, it was awesome, and the culmination of months of planning by we guys that hadn’t seen each other in three years; Paul in Denver, Alex now in Wisconsin, and me West Coast. Sure, we have our families and jobs and networks in our respective cities, yet how often does anyone get to be in the presence of like-minded men and immediately synchronize, as though no time has passed?
This was my first guys’ weekend in as long as I can remember. You’ve had yours, too. The guests and activities all curated for a reason: to maximize that precious time you rarely get away from everything. Think back on those times. How rejuvenating are they?
There’s no doubt those times and spaces with other men are so vital to our existence, whether they are spent just sitting around talking, or out on the town living it up. They give us a kind of sustenance—fuel for brains and our guts. As we make time for our wives and children our work and our projects, we definitely need to make time for these sacred spaces. As important it is to advance ourselves, a retreat can work wonders.
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Photo by Rodrigo Rodriguez on Unsplash