14 men, shedding a “sizable mountain of macho bull, male posturing, facades and vulnerability barriers” find the beauty in masculinity.
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Sometimes, in the spaces between almost-crucifying reminders, I’ll forget our species’ unimaginable darkness that history so oft re-proves. At depth, I simply and intuitively can’t stop envisioning and wondering at love’s infinite, miraculous power to illuminate, heal and transform. Can we yet make of our humanity, of our earth, and of our truest possibility, a love story of profound awakening? If so, what expressions of masculine energy might effectively help to birth a world that truly works for all? I believe that discovering and trusting our most soul-deep compass can powerfully light our way.
As we shared in turn, not one single expression of “masculine” need to dominate, separate, diminish others, assert divisive distinctions or exploit even subtly surfaced
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I recently had occasion during a men’s weekend-long training adventure to explore, along with thirteen other initiates, my unbound vision of possibility for our world from what was arguably the most unspoiled depths of my adult being. Mind you, by this point we’d shed a sizable mountain of macho bull, male posturing, facades and vulnerability barriers. We were keen to get out of our own way; eager to dig deep and deeper still, to let the pure, creative child within truly soar. We came together at the end of the exercise to share, one by one, each of our individual visions.
As we shared in turn, not one single expression of “masculine” need to dominate, separate, diminish others, assert divisive distinctions or exploit even subtly surfaced. Not one. Buried or denied male insecurities disguised in any of these forms were simply no part whatsoever of our freest, unconstrained landscapes. Instead, we together imagined a shared world of deeply supportive and expanding peace, love, joy, connection, growth and wholeness.
… what urgently cries for transformation and healing is not our purest inborn energies, nor some monster lurking deep in the male shadow; rather, it is the inherited masks which so painfully betray us.
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I ask you, men, truly: Did you know your masculine creative impulse is that beautiful? Do you even now? We didn’t. Did you know your inner vision is that boundless, that powerfully amazing and sorely needed? None of us did. Certainly not just looking at each other. And most certainly not collectively as a joined whole.
My astute daughter reminds me that, kindred ideals notwithstanding, fourteen men is hardly a statistically significant sample size. Fair point. But c’mon… Not. One. I’m calling that a message. For me, the clear sense that descended as the heartening images coalesced of all we’d most dearly create, is that what urgently cries for transformation and healing is not our purest inborn energies, nor some monster lurking deep in the male shadow; rather, it is the inherited masks which so painfully betray us.
Looking at other men now, I seek to envision that same, beautiful, latent potential that, if but blessed, longs to emerge and bless us. Potential that even they may hold unawares at safe distance, beyond conscious grasp, protected there from masculine prescriptions hostile to innocence. Just as we fourteen men were unconscious until we unveiled those most core seeds to hear and to share their innate voices.
We owe it to our world to see in ourselves and in each other those deepest seeds of promise yearning beneath the snow.
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Looking at other men now, I know I owe it to myself—we owe it to each other—to see more than just the learned survival or coping personas we’ll allow; to see, beneath all stifling armor, more than what we might feel expected or safe to project; to look beyond the limits of our perceived or instilled permissions. We owe it to our world to see in ourselves and in each other those deepest seeds of promise yearning beneath the snow. We owe it to the future to know, unforgettably, that those seeds are there, awaiting discovery, expression, trust.
Seeing and knowing far, far more deeply, to that place where the crystalline dream is brilliant and pristine, we hold the power to free, support and celebrate a finest in ourselves we’ve only begun to imagine.
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Photo: Getty Images
You guys never had mates? Never went on trips, camping, fire under the stars where you talked about everything and anything? Never been there in times of need or trouble, sadness, loss? I feel sorry for you, that it took so long to get there, but at least you are there now. And its not just 14. Thousands upon thousands upon thousands of men have done these weekends in over 15 countries. I recommend them for any guy still trying to find himself, that never had it, this sense of holistic masculinity. We all race the wind in our own… Read more »
Tim – Wow! I am so glad you clicked on the submit button. This is a truly wonderful and moving post! Sounds like an incredible weekend!