Elder Gathering at Retreat Center Center in Indianola, Iowa
Elders come weave your gifts! The Elder Council and the elders of the Central Plains Community of the Mankind Project USA offer an opportunity for elder men and women from across the world (anyone of age 50 or older) in their USA Gathering of Elders (USAGE) conference to be held October 27 – 30, 2011, at the Wesley Woods Camp and Retreat Center, just 20 minutes south of the Des Moines Airport near Indianola, IA. The theme of the...
Stepping Out from the Shadow of the Father
by Rick Belden I recently had the pleasure of corresponding a bit with Dr. John Ashfield, an Australian author, educator, and psychotherapist. Dr. Ashfield is Director of Education and Clinical Practice for the Australian Institute of Male Health and Studies, and is the author of the recently published book Doing Psychotherapy with Men: Practicing Ethical Psychotherapy and Counselling with Men. In a chapter called “Being Your Own Man”...
Is Silence Golden?
by Bruce Rosove I’m at Blue Skies, a music festival that started out 38 years ago as a picnic. It’s a collection of music, holistic workshops and lots of friends. I’ve been through a catharsis here that I want to share with you. It all started on the Saturday morning when Maike burst out “I have to go to the workshop on Ho’Oponopono** , the Hawaian forgiveness process”. I didn’t react immediately. But 10 minutes later I realized I...
It’s just to try and work on the good bit of you. – John Lennon
In 1969 a young man snuck into a hotel room and got this interview with John Lennon. Especially poignant to me … and resonating with the work of the ManKind Project and our circles is a short piece at about 2:00 minutes, where John says, “We’re all violent. We’re all Hitler inside and we’re all Christ inside …” So much of the time, it’s our natural reaction to the violence and suffering...
I’m Sorry, It’s Cancer – an interview with author Chris Frey
by Boysen Hodgson My Mom died of cancer on September 13, 2003. She had an incredible amount of love and support in her life and access to the best care available at the time. It took she and my step father hundreds of hours to find the right doctors and hospitals, to find the right support services, to learn how to live with happiness, communication and gratitude even when times were very dark. It occurred to me at the time that there...
Honing Our Integral Edges
by Boysen Hodgson In the ManKind Project, we’re voracious integrators. Our trainings and groups are a tightly mixed alchemical combination of exercises, modalities and practices from across the spectrum of personal growth, psychology, spiritual, ritual and physical practices. Men from different traditions and multiple generations have brought their unique gifts to the ManKind Project and our men’s circles, and men show up...
FIGHT BACK THE DARKNESS – World Suicide Prevention Day
To the men of The ManKind Project, our families, our communities: The Mental Health Resource Team invites and urges you to participate in World Suicide Prevention Day. On September 10, groups, communities, and organizations all over the world will be meeting and supporting each other in learning about suicide, learning how to prevent it, and learning how to deal with its aftermath. How can we join them in this vital initiative? That’s...
Game On
by Kip de Moll A troubling fear in the days before my surgery was that much of this ordeal provided a convenient excuse to avoid the more serious crisis of how to live the rest of my life. As long as surgery loomed and the catheter was an impediment, I could sit here quietly and always plead my health. Repaired, I have to face squarely my disillusionment with construction and disappointment with the financial results of my insurance...
How do we get from Need to Mission?
by Stephen Simmer I offer these as the four steps for the evolution of mission: need, demand, want, and mission. 1. NEED is the child-position: I need love, and no matter what relationship I have, I am reaching out to be loved (or reaching out for peace, justice, whatever value). I feel helpless to get love without someone giving it to me. 2. DEMAND is the slightly older child, who uses anger to try to get the value: I insist that you...
The Demise of Guys-a TED talk
Men, who constitute half of humanity, are in deep trouble. Young adult males are becoming increasingly disconnected with our world. They are falling behind women academically, and starting to distance themselves socially from the opposite sex. In this wonderful TED talk by Philip Zimbardo, the stark statistics are laid out for all to see. Philip then gives his audience the challenge of finding solutions to this grave societal dilemma...
The Butterfly Effect
by Stephen Simmer I sort of remember the incident. I’ve reconstructed it with the help of my sixteen-year-old daughter Anna, after she showed me the art project based on what happened. The incident took place many years ago, when she was four and her sister was three. We had just gotten a new-to-us car. Anna was already a budding artist, always drawing, painting, or coloring. It was pretty common for us to give her a coloring...
Hiding Out in Oz
[custom_field field=”laughton” this_post=”1″ limit=”1″ between=”, ” /] by Geoff Laughton When you are looking at what makes your relationship(s) (oh hell…and life itself) challenging and difficult, it will help to really examine the power and Modus Operandi of shame. It’s often been called the Master Emotion, and while it may not really be that for you, you sure can count on...
A report from Oslo in the wake of terror
Hi everyone, As some of you may know, Oslo, Norway is the city I call home. Some days ago, as I am confident you know, Oslo became the target of two acts of terrorism carried out by a deranged young ethnic Norwegian more or less my age. I’ve had some trouble accepting the facts. I […]
Leaders, Old vs New
Over at Harvard Business Review, Marshall Goldsmith discusses what he considers the mark of a good leader today, and contrasts it to leaders of the past: Years ago, when most organizations were based on the hierarchical business model of the Industrial Age, great leaders were those who were unemotional, rational, even mechanistic. Those days are […]
Three Reasons Why Shame is Your Friend
OK, this one may be a big surprise for many of you, but here it is, Shame can be your Friend. Learn how this is so in my article over at LifeHack
Are You On the Receiving End?
One of the biggest issues that shows up in the couples and individuals I work with, particularly in regards to their relationships, is where they are so challenged to comprehend what it means to receive. When you dig down even further with the issue, it becomes clear that a LOT of people don’t know how […]
Broken Bones and the Father Wound
by Rick Belden Not long ago I wrote, “Bad luck is the language of the unconscious.” In the eight weeks since breaking my right wrist and shoulder in a fall, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to ponder and explore the meaning of those words, and they have led me back, in a most unexpected way, to the connection established with my father during childhood around physical pain, and to the significance of that connection for me as an...
Bullying as Childhood Trauma
EDITORS NOTE: Tony Rutt has published an account of his childhood called “Mark” which is centered around the trauma he suffered at the hands of a bully as a child living in the UK. You can read his story here: http://mymarkstory.com/ – Thank you Tony for sharing this story with the ManKind Project! Local Man Shares Childhood Trauma interview by Sean Redmond, Hemel FM As anyone who has experienced bullying or is going...
The victim cramp of cultural relativists (and how dropping it could save us all)
I read this short article over at the Good Men Project. Something about some right wing Republican talking about African Americans and who said this in an interview: Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and […]
New Play “Tickets to Manhood” July 14-30, 2011 NYC
SHOW: Tickets to Manhood by James Scruggs WHEN: July 14 – July 30 WHERE: Dixon Place, 161 Chrystie Street, NY, NY 10002 HOW MUCH: $15 in advance, $18 at the door. WHY: a Play about Rites of Passage, Initiation, and Masculinity in the 21st Century. From the Editor: I will be representing the ManKind Project for a talk-back panel discussion after the July 23 performance of Tickets to Manhood. I saw an early reading of this play...
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     The ManKind Project® is a global nonprofit education and training organization dedicated to helping men find and live the best of who they can be as men. We support over 1000 men's groups in over 10 countries around the world. Our flagship training is the New Warrior Training Adventure. Over 58,000 men have stepped out of their comfort zones to make a better life for themselves and their families. |
