The Other Stocking – G.K. Chesterton
Sage Chapel - Cornell University EDITORS NOTE from Boysen Hodgson: I heard the following story told at a Christmas Eve service in Sage Chapel on the campus of Cornell University, December 24, 2011. It was the first time my wife and I had ever attended a Christmas Eve service, and we ...
Justin Hunt; ABSENT, a new documentary about Fatherhood
by Boysen Hodgson Absent Target; this movie, as Justin Hunt says, is targeted to men. And often it is women who 'get' the film. Energy embodied; informational, emotional, invitational Empowering intent; To present a simple thesis ... 'the father is the first human being in a child's life who either chooses them, or ...
Matthew Sloane; Tulie’s Garden ~ a book review
by Boysen Hodgson Tulie's Garden "Tulie's Garden; the place where I abandon and reclaim who I am", written and illustrated by Matthew Alexander Sloane. Available at the author's web site.Click Here to purchase the book. Target; this is an ideal book to give to a young man in your life ... it is ...
REVEALED: Portraits from Beneath the Surface
TARGET AUDIENCE: Lovers of Photography, Seekers, Artists, People with a desire to refine their spiritual expression. ENERGY EMBODIED: Practical, Exploratory, Challenging. PRIMARY ARCHETYPE: Magician - the desire to transform EMPOWERING INTENT: To reveal a process that a portrait photographer and his subjects engaged in to create "Revealed" - to explore the boundary ...
“Warrior” Movie Review
by Kelly Cresap Here's an idea for MKP Men: Watch the movie “Warrior” with your I-group, and begin discussion afterwards with this question: What would you do if Tommy Riordan stepped up to do some work in your circle? He’s a bruising hulk of a man who once ripped the door off ...
Get the chips, the wings, the beer – and a whole new way of being a man.
As you settle in to watch Super Bowl XLV - the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Green Bay Packers ... The men who 'go to battle' in the NFL give the game all they've got. Their coaches demand it, their teammates insist upon it, and their fans will accept nothing less. ...
Successful Completion of the Seiler School in Ethiopia
An update from Peter Seiler
It’s been five years since the death of my uncle, but I have finally created the school he requested in his last will and testament. The Ella and Wolfgang Seiler School has been built in the tribal area of the Hamar in South Omo Ethiopia. Actual building time was only half a year, and it is the first earth bag based building in Ethiopia.
Action Creates Action
by Steve Harper
This year I’m in the writers mentoring program at CBS, a networking program for people of color trying to break into the TV writing business. Prior to being in the program, my manager suggested I apply – and at the time I had resistance to the idea. My resistance came primarily from the fact that I wanted a job and the program at CBS is not a job. But eventually, realizing that I might as well apply, I did the necessary work and sent in my stuff. Now I’m happily ensconced in weekly meetings, connecting with industry wisdom and learning so much!
Laughter is the Best Medicine, Part 1
Want to connect with someone?
Make ‘em laugh.
Want to build relationship fast?
Make ‘em laugh.
Want to get someone to follow your lead?
Make ‘em laugh.
Laughter works at a deeper level than words. It connects people at the emotional level.
My friend Bruce was recently driving a van from New England to Colorado.
It was a business trip; he was carting scenic materials for a festival happening in Aspen.
What’s Up With Men, Anyway?
I was just reading a post on Facecrack that a dear friend of mine asked for some men to offer feedback on. It was concerning an article she’d seen on a website discussing the differences between men and women, and how those differences made relationships challenging. The author was basically contending (and I’m in agreement, to a large degree) that men get into trouble in relationships because they really don’t know how to contribute their half/part of their emotional responsibilities towards feeding relationships.
The Daimon of Mission
by Stephen Simmer
“Before you embark on any path ask the question: Does this path have a heart? If the answer is no, you will know it, and then you must choose another path. The trouble is nobody asks the question; and when a man finally realizes that he has taken a path without a heart, the path is ready to kill him. At that point very few men can stop to deliberate, and leave the path. A path without a heart is never enjoyable. You have to work hard even to take it. On the other hand, a path with heart is easy; it does not make you work at liking it”.
–Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan
Lay Priest: Perspectives; a poem
For: Michael Rice
Perspectives; yours…mine…
out of shadowland we grasp at
pin pricks of light, claim
a dogma; disclaim another’s…judging…
Within our perspective we judge.
With other brothers, we sought our limits
illumined by the midnight
sun, we probed
community to its
nexus…in an individual’s
dance within his shadows…
Fears and tears, hysteria and laughter
the pulse particularly
deep, communal light particularly
bright, contracts, written on the blackboard sky
with our expanding
light…
The Calisthenics of Love
Dmitri Bilgere sends us this video from his new blog on the three parts to discover and the three skills to master when it comes to the art of loving.
You can also read a transcription of the video at Dmitri’s website: Live the Life You Long For
Watching Them Watch Me
Love is a golden vessel, containing, by its very nature, both joys and sorrows. The poignant reality of this human condition is beautifully shown in a recent memoir from the New York Times, sent to us by Alain Hunkins, The MKP Journal’s Corporate Leadership & Facilitation Contributing Editor. Anyone who has ever suffered the slow loss of a spouse or a parent will feel this moving story by Times writer Dean E. Murphy. It illustrates both the power and the vulnerability of being a man.
More Momentum, Less Effort
by Joseph DiCenso
Scything wheat, hammering a nail, splitting wood, sledding downhill, surfing a wave, performing a summersault, playing the piano–all of these have something in common: working with momentum. Momentum: mass in motion aiming to remain in motion. In the broader sense, we might say it’s whatever already has life or energy. When we tap that energy we expend less of our own. In exchange, we give up some control–or so it seems.
Once Upon a Routine Phone Call
by Glenn Barker, ManKind Project Chicago
What does Gold look like to you?
Once upon a routine phone call….
An easy place to feel isolated.
Last night I called my Internet host service for email assistance (a slow connection)
A polite young man answered who, after some time asked the nature of my business.
I talked about men’s work and support.
“Isn’t that what bars are for?” he said … a glib, and not unexpected, response.
Declared Elders of the ManKind Project
From Terry Jones
The men over fifty in the ManKind Project are our elders. But, do we accept them as elders or do we expect them first to declare? We define a declared elder as an elder who has self chosen to serve by declaring himself an elder of and in his community. Many MKP men expect an elder to declare himself. Have you considered, however, what the status of an elder is in your view if he has not declared?
Concreteness Training: a Self Help Approach to Depression
by Ravenspen
Depression is one of the greatest of human tragedies. Often dismissed, trivialized and misunderstood, a cloud of pain in the mind of someone in the grip of depression is no less overwhelming than an acute physical discomfort is to an injured individual. Depression has wreaked whole lives, making its victims unhappy, unproductive, miserable and even suicidal. It has profound negative effects on the friends and family of someone who is suffering from depression. It is also terribly misunderstood.
Where is Your Flag?
by Doug Eadline
The Penn State story has been a constant headline in my local paper. I live in eastern Pennsylvania, so this coverage is certainly not unexpected. Often times, I cannot read all the details of the alleged events that took place in “Happy Valley.” My heart goes out to those boys, because if true, many were selected and groomed as victims due to their socioeconomic status.
CONTEXT FOR GUTS
Our work in the ManKind Project is powerful, very powerful. Some of us, as we move further away in time from our own New Warrior Training Adventure, tend to forget how dramatic “The Hero’s Journey” is for uninitiated men on Saturday afternoon. But what is even more important is how profound, how life changing, doing this work really is. We are giving men the initiation they never got. Turning adults into men, fulfilling a crucial gap from their boyhood. The sacred context of this work is poetically articulated in the following submission to the MKP Journal by an Elder in our community and a veteran of twenty years of work in the ManKind Project.
Reality presented as Story
by Ravenspen
The human mind, is, above all else, a storytelling mechanism. Because of this, many people retreat into story when the world of objective facts overwhelms them. They want to perceive reality in a way that makes sense to them. Rather than insisting on dividing story from fact, one novel concept is to use story to present facts, providing real information in a comforting context. This approach has been used by Dr. Zachary Meisel and Dr. Jason Karlawish of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
Eric Erickson: The Life Cycle
Ken Gilbert talks about Elderhood.
Erik Erikson – Developmental Psychoanalyst
Stage 8. Late adulthood (from 60 years)
Psychosocial Crisis: Ego Integrity vs. Despair
Ego Quality: Wisdom
Main Question: “What kind of life have I lived?”
As we move toward the end of our lives, if we can look back on good times with gladness, on hard times with self-respect, and on mistakes and regrets with forgiveness then we will find a new sense of integrity.
Building a Community: Mike Brown interviews Bill Kauth and Zoe Alowan
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Mike Brown, New Warrior and Spiritual Life Coach for the past nine years, interviews Bill Kauth and Zoe Alowan.
Bill Kauth co-founded in 1984 the New Warrior Training Adventure of the ManKind Project, the Inner King Training and the Warrior Monk. He is the author of “A Circle of Men”, published by St. Martins Press. In his role as “Visionary-at-large” with MKP, Bill has been studying the state of the world for a dozen plus years.
New Warrior Wisdom for Surviving the Snow – WWLP News 22
by Boysen Hodgson
Frank Grindrod, a New Warrior from Western Massachusetts, part of the New England Community and a Member of one of the two longest running men’s groups in New England (the Special Boys) was featured in a spot on a local TV station WWLP 22 News with information on what to have and what to do if you’re stranded in your car this winter.
Hard Wired Humans and Face Value
Here is a piece from the December human instincts newsletter, Hardwired Humans.
The makers of the movie Happy Feet Two spent significant effort on the facial expressions of the animated penguins. According to the animation director, There is incredible detail put into the micro-movements around the eye, the movement of the eye itself, the dilation of the pupils, the movement of the head, and the slight pursing of the beak; just to tell you “Mumble” is a thinking character. (Sydney Morning Herald, 19-20 November 2011)
The power of vulnerability
A TED Talk by Brene Brown
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The ManKind Project® is an international nonprofit education and training organization making the world safer by growing 'better' men. We support over 1000 men's groups in 10 countries around the world. Our flagship training is the New Warrior Training Adventure. Over 45,000 men have stepped out of their comfort zones to make a better life for themselves and their families.
Please support the work of the ManKind Project with a Tax Deductible Contribution.
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