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I’ll turn thirty-seven next month, and as I reflect back on the past twenty years or so of being on this adulthood journey, I often wonder with increasing frequency, “Is there a seat at the table for a man like me?”
I’ll be more specific. What I am really asking is, “Is there a place in the world for a different kind of male?”
Is there room for a kind of guy who, although happily masculine, is comfortable and adept at switching between his masculine and feminine energies?
How about one who is a born nurturer? Or one who feels deeply and more often and does not shy away from these feelings when they come up in conversation?
And speaking of conversation, what about the kind of man who wades into the deeper kinds of these because he feels empathy for people and wants to know how they’re doing on the inside—so that he can relate and share in their thoughts and emotions instead of just staying on the surface?
A man who wants to know because he feels. A man who feels because he truly cares.
In more recent years, I have finally been able to attach a word to this description of myself. I have become more and more familiar with my own sensitivity, carrying with me a capacity to feel deeply. Even if the cost was thinking I was somehow less of a man and in turn, suppressing parts if myself so that I could fit in and not feel alienated from the tough, traditional macho men of the world and of my younger years.
Only I no longer try to bridge that gap. Rather, I stand in it, ready, willing, and excited to have a conversation about the sensitive male in hopes that others will join the discussion.
Through this column, I want other men and women to ask questions and share their stories alongside me as I share my own. I want other sensitive men to have the courage to be their authentic selves instead of something they think they should be or that they think the world is pressuring them to be.
Over and over again, during these years of increased adulthood, I have also asked myself a second question: “Knowing what I bring to the table, is there still room for me to take a seat?”
Ladies and gents, let’s talk about what it means to show up and be unafraid to be who you are, above all else. Thank you for being part of this journey known as The Sensitive Dude.
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