New Warrior Training Adventure of the ManKind Project

Service in the World

2012-01-30T10:07:00.000-08:00

In the ManKind Project, I and other MKP men are pushing ourselves to be of service in the world.

How does that look? Many MKP men volunteer their time to causes they believe in, they work in businesses that support their beliefs, they may even create non-profits to create a place for change and service.

For me, I do acts of service in many ways. For the ManKind Project, I am the Northern California Community IT and list-serve man. I staff NWTAs. I lead an MKP IGroup every week.

Outside of MKP, I support causes like the American Heart Association by doing Heart Walks which raise money for research and education to prevent the leading causes of deaths in this country. I also micro-volunteer through Sparked.com.

My latest effort to be of service is to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project by completing in a Tough Mudder event on September 29, 2012. The WWP does great work providing all manner of no-cost support to returning veterans of the Iraq/Afganistan wars. I support the awesome work they do!

Tough Mudder is a day-long physical and emotional challenge involving all manner of difficult obstacles along a 12 mile course. And yes, there's a ton of mud involved. I am doing the TM to raise money for WWP while celebrating being alive after having open-heart bypass surgery in August, 2010 and turning 50 in September.

My experience with ManKind Project men is that they are passionate about their lives, their families and the world around them.

What are you passionate about?

To help me raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project, please click HERE.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Tough Mudder & Wounded Warrior Project

2012-01-20T13:56:00.000-08:00

My wife and I are making up team BraveHearts to take on the NCal Tough Mudder on Sep 22 to celebrate my 50th birthday and being alive 25 months after open heart bypass surgery!

Please support my efforts to raise $500 for the Wounded Warrior Project in conjunction with my Tough Mudder event by contributing HERE.

Isolation

2012-01-04T11:39:00.000-08:00

A ManKind Project man posted this in the Your NWTA and MKP Experience page. I just wanted to give it a bigger audience.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

I went thru the training in a snow storm in West Virginia at age 57. My Mom and Dad had died earlier that year and even though I was "successful" by all accounts, and had done years of self-awareness and EQ work, there was something missing. I was constantly feeling like I was operating from false bravado, pretending to be capable, but always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I had felt alone most of my life -- I had never felt like I belonged anywhere. That weekend one of my many critical moments was in the sweat. During the 4th round we were asked to simply say to ourselves over and over something we wanted to give up in our life. I began to quietly say over and over to myself -- "I am giving up being alone". As I let the darkness and heat seep into my body I began to believe my words. And suddenly I realized everyone in the sweat was saying the same thing in unison with me -- I don't know if they started it on their own and then we synced up or if they heard me and it struck a chord - it doesn't matter -- in that moment I knew I was not alone.

I have continued my work on myself -- the weekend is only a door, not a journey. I am still working every couple of weeks with an I-Group. I've taken other MKP trainings that have proved equally powerful in differnt ways, and I have staffed a number of NWTA trainings. Each staffing is its own revelation. I think of it more like building an onion by adding layers (I spent a lot of years peeling the onion -- here I have gotten to add the layers I want to add).

In 2007, at a staffing I suddenly realized I felt something I had never before felt and took the time to say it in a large circle of men -- "As a man among men, I belong". If felt as if I belonged there, at that moment. Not to MKP. Not to that circle. To the world and that moment. Having been a Navy brat and moving almost every year of my childhood, I had never felt like I belonged anywhere -- I always felt as if I was a transient. It is an amazing feeling to have -- I can't describe it -- perhaps people who have felt it all their life don't get the big deal, but for me it was life changing.

I continue to define my life's purpose with the help of work in MKP, and have found the power to carry that purpose outside of MKP -- "I create a safe and connected world by leading, listening and mentoring". That sounds rather simplistic when I say the words, yet that mission has empowered me to make a difference in many people's live for the better.

It constantly amazes me how an organization that intentionally has no agenda can so effectively help men find theirs. Well, I guess MKP does have one agenda -- to empower men in their own lives.

Great Bear
Claymont Court, WV
December 2003

The Time is NOW!

2011-12-04T21:14:00.001-08:00

When men say NO to bullying, of any kind, the world will be joyous for boys and girls like this boy here.

This is my story, too. From as young as I can remember to 28 years old I was bullied by boys, girls, men and women. I looked like a happy boy to my parents, but at school, I was just trying to survive.

Is this what we want for our children?

When I invite you to the ManKind Project's New Warrior Training Adventure, it's not to get anything from you or convince you of anything. I do it because men can save the world, if they choose to do that. You are the man we need to stand with us and say the time is NOW!

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

In Stronger Service to the World

2011-12-01T09:55:00.000-08:00

I have people ask me about my men's group quite often....What is it? What do you do? Why? Here's great piece of text that helps explain a ManKind Project men's IGroup.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Guiding Principles of a Men’s Group
By Owen Marcus

Circle of Brothers
We live a new vision of being a man. Through ceremony and practice, we initiate each man deeper into full maturity. Going beyond friends, we develop the intimacy that only comes from integrity. The wholeness that occurs from each man being a leader connecting to something beyond himself creates a group of sustaining success in all aspects of life.

Fierce Love
We challenge and support each other, often in the same breath. The energy created is palpable, able to penetrate deflection. We care and feel “sweetly held” by each other. We are willing to give our love freely. We offer each other our compassionate truth. We name the unspoken and are willing to put relationships at risk for the sake of truth and growth. We create the energy necessary to constantly become superior men.

Our Container
In the sanctuary of the group, we maintain safety and complete confidentiality – which raises the bar to be free in the circle. We hold ourselves, and each other, to our individual and collective commitments. We ask for what we want. We honor and value each other, often with laughter and tears. We ‘let it rip’ with purpose and vision. With our intuition and love, we sense the dissonance and deflect the deflection. Through our ability to be present with others and ourselves, we accept that we sit in a ‘circle of mirrors’ feeling how truth resonates through the circle.

Bringing Our Full Self
We share from our gut, heart, and full body. We are willing to go “all in”. We are open to the moment, with unguarded humbleness. We move into our bodies, bringing a willingness to reveal and express our feelings. We surrender into feeling, owning our emotions. We tap the richness of our unconscious and our dark side and manifest that energy into positive awareness and action. We value depth over breadth. We step into our fear, risk vulnerability and move forward without collapsing. We notice and appreciate what is working in our lives. We courageously bring our unguarded optimism and affirm our ability to manifest our intentions.

What We Bring Into the World
We gain energy in our time together, each carrying this energy back into his life. We feel deep gratitude and see more beauty in the world. We feel a stronger connection to ourselves, to our surroundings, and to our environment. We accelerate change in our lives and step clear of victimhood. We feel a stronger connection to ourselves, our family and community, and a deeper connection to our sexuality. Our lives are improved and we stand in stronger service to the world. We offer this love to our planet as the seed for the change we model.

Journey to Manhood

2011-11-19T21:12:00.000-08:00

From A Journey to the Wilderness of the Soul, by Larry Pesavento

"Manhood demands a journey. Manhood demands a test, not testosterone. Manhood does not come automatically, growing as the body grows. This journey of manhood is perilous and painful. The outcome cannot be planned or controlled, and is shrouded in paradox. The journey must be done with a man's eyes open, consciously and continually choosing a path that leads away from the familiar and the secure.

The journey is a psychospiritual one that demands modern man's attention. Society's and the world's survival depends on men consciously taking up this mission toward inner wisdom and purpose. Men who do not take the journey are dangerous men. Burned out men are dangerous men."

Listen, the way I see it is that men are left behind to find their way from boyhood to manhood without a path. Well, no path that I wanted, anyway.

No woman, no TV show, no movie, and no book is going to take you down the path to manhood. Men help boys, young men, and other men to step cleanly into manhood; simple as that. It is not easy. It requires you look at where you are and it requires you to walk away from being a child.

There are men who are willing to lead men to manhood; they are ManKind Project men. They are men who see the value in you; in your future contribution or destruction to the planet; in your participation in society, or lack of; in your heart.

Is today the day your say to yourself "I need to be among men who will guide me, listen to me, honor me, care about me, challenge me and everything I have going"?

Step up, men are waiting.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Once in a Life

2011-11-07T06:41:00.000-08:00

"Once in a life, you can find a time to see,
And you get to turn it down, turn around, temporary sanity
And then the mountain disappears without a trace,
All it took, was a sudden leap of faith."

Kenny Loggins, Leap of Faith

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I had this time in my life; where I had to gather my courage and make the leap.

The leap was gigantic. I had to summon up all my courage to dive into a men's organization that didn't make the rules for me. The ManKind Project doesn't tell me the rules for my life, I have to make them for myself. There are men to support my decisions; but none to tell me what to do.

I made the leap and now I am grateful to the men who held out their arms to catch me, stand me up, and say "now do it for yourself."

Will you leap? There are over 45,000 men there to catch you, me included.

I'm out.
Old-faithful Wolf

Yoda Says

2011-11-02T09:19:00.000-07:00

In an MKP IGroup, we challenge you to stop saying things like maybe and try. In the end, you either do or don't, the rest is just excuses.

Are you willing to drop the excuses and get on with your life?

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Active Men

2011-10-27T05:13:00.000-07:00

Having a blog, I allow comments to be added. However, I don't allow them to be posted freely, but rather, I moderate them. There are a lot of reasons for this but the biggest is that this is my blog and I get to choose what gets posted.

I have a message to get across to you and that is that the ManKind Project and the New Warrior Training Adventure are worthwhile male endeavors that create a better man and therefore a better world. If a comment is posted that I feel doesn't stay on topic, then I get to delete it. I try to post all comments, but occasionally someone decides to anonymously post a bunch of garbage that is either off topic or some kind of slam to what I am trying to accomplish here.

Recently, I got four such e-mails that were counter-productive to my message and they were anonymous. Rather than just blow them off I feel compelled to do them some justice as at least one had a thought worth addressing.

I state that over 40,000 men have taken the New Warrior Training Adventure weekend. That number climbs every weekend and if I had way to add a ticker to the exact count I would. The commenter stated to me that 40,000 men were not active in ManKind Project and that some other number was. Their number was ridiculously low and not worth even stating. However, it is worth looking at how many men are "active" in ManKind Project.

In my opinion...every single man is. The ManKind Project changes men's lives just by attending the New Warrior Training Adventure. Some men choose to not "actively" participate in the ManKind Project after the New Warrior Training Adventure, but from my seat that is moot. Men are changed by the training weekend. Whether they continue to sit in an iGroup, or continue to attend other ManKind Project trainings and events, or not, is not important. These men have walked through a weekend they will never forget. It's that simple.

I do not have a number for how many men stay active in the ManKind Project after the New Warrior Training Adventure. I have no way to decide what active is except as I stated above.

I tell you this. The training is strong, challenging, and worth it.

To the commenter that sent me four anonymous comments last week, I will continue to post only what stays on topic and much of what you wrote (much of which I could not decipher the context or grammar) was not on topic.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Another View

2011-10-10T14:38:00.000-07:00

I love when men post on the Internet about the New Warrior Training Adventure. I found this great post and wanted you to see, from a clinical psychologist's point of view, what the training looks like.

Are you ready?

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

The ManKind Project

August 30, 2011 By Dr. Adam Sheck

I’m writing this post on a Monday morning, following an intense men’s weekend training I completed last night sponsored by The ManKind Project. It is called the New Warrior’s Training Adventure (NWTA) and it definitely was an “adventure” that pushed my physical, emotional and spiritual limits.

The purpose of this post is as much for me to integrate the weekend experience as it is to share what might be a beneficial experience for other men. This is actually “Part 2″. You can read “Part 1″ here, which began by setting the context of my previous experience of “men’s work.”

The New Warrior Training Adventure is a journey that begins on a Friday evening and ends about forty-eight hours later on a Sunday evening. Time becomes frozen in this intense experience which felt to me more like a week or even longer. The thirty men who participated with me as well as the staff for the weekend transformed from strangers to brothers as we bonded during a common experience.

I won’t describe the specifics of the weekend, as I want to respect the privacy of my fellows, but I shall certainly share my experience and growth. The NWTA draws on a myriad of male traditions, from the militaristic to the mythopoetic to the Native American to the psychological and archetypal. It challenged me in ALL aspects of my manhood. The challenge was to grow, to release what was holding me back from stepping into MY manhood and MY power.

In the early 1980s, I was a workshop junkie and did every seminar and weekend workshop that I could find in that period of self-actualization. I only say this to let you know that I don’t want to sound like a groupie and I don’t want to sound like I’m proselytizing. Been there, done that, BOUGHT the Tee-Shirt Factory! This isn’t a paid endorsement and I don’t get a kickback from The ManKind Project.

It actually took me four years from the time I first heard about them to doing the training. The timing was right. My life was/is in an existential transition as my daughter recently graduated from high school, my business is in a lull and I’m ready to recreate myself and my life’s work.

As a man who was raised without a father, I have lived and worked on my father wound for a long time. The NWTA was another huge part of healing that wound. It truly is in the company of men that men can help to contextualize that loss and find greater peace, comfort and wholeness. Historically men come together in war and conflict. This weekend experience was antithetical to this as we came together on a mission of peace, truth, connection, respect, love and healing.

Psychotherapy, though started by men, has become in my opinion very feminized. I bring a strong masculine aspect into my work as a psychotherapist and also bring the masculine into the training I do with psychology interns. Most of my interns are women, yet they welcome the permission and direction to actually challenge their clients and be more than a “how does that make you feel” therapist.

Yes, we need the feminine aspect in our lives, there is no question about that. However, we also need the masculine aspect. We ALL, men and women, need to create a balance between our internal masculine and feminine. The NWTA helps to realign the masculine and strengthen what has been weakened or never developed.

Through a series of carefully sequenced processes, our group walked through our wounds and our shadows. I became more aware of those hidden, buried parts of myself as they surfaced.

For those who are afraid that those shadow parts are only our negative aspects, let me say that isn’t the truth. I have done a lot of work over the years to understand the negative, repressed parts of my psyche. A big part of this weekend was to identify and begin to liberate the hidden HEALTHY parts!

I connected to that deep, primordial core of my manhood. Being raised by mainly by women, I didn’t have access to large parts of my masculine energies and honestly, a lot of them were discouraged. I can still remember my mother saying “modulate your voice!” And so we bury parts of ourselves or they come out in a rebellious form with a vengeance.

So I connected experientially with my core, with my power, with my vitality, with my guts! In some ways, I “remembered” who I am and where I came from as a man. I also reconnected to the “mission” in my life.

As I’ve written before, as a “man after fifty” I have been on the existential fence with life life. My daughter is almost eighteen, has graduated from high school and will be entering the Air Force soon. My daughter will be launched and my responsibilities as a ”single parent” will substantially change.

The truth is that I have a great deal of freedom and incredible options for how I can lead my life. And so I have been seeking to redefine my purpose, to recreate my life for this next period. In short, I have been seeking my “mission”.

A major part of the NWTA is focused on helping men connect to their “mission” and so I was delighted that the processes helped me to reveal mine:

“I create a world of playful connection by sharing who I am.”

A mission is short and sweet and when you uncover it, it just “clicks” and perhaps brings an “aha” and a smile to your lips. It’s not about a “business plan” or the like. My mission is definitely in alignment with my work as a psychologist.

My work IS to help people connect and I believe that the healing component of psychotherapy IS in that sharing of who we are. I am direct, confrontational AND kind in my work with couples, individuals and groups. AND, because the work is so “serious” I have always done my best to make it playful and laugh about it to create balance in the energies.

So discovering my mission was/is an affirmation of my career path. The part that I need to personally work on is creating more of that playful connection in my personal life. And even more, learning to be KIND to myself. That is my “assignment” for the week, to discover ways to be kind to myself. And part of being kind right now is to wrap up this post and spend some time outside!

To summarize then, the two big takeaways for me from the NWTA weekend were reconnecting to my inner core and power and gaining clarity into my mission. There was much more, yet those are the big two for me as of today. The weekend was so intense and time-compacted that I have no doubt that more epiphanies and insights will be coming down the road.

To be clear, it isn’t psychotherapy, it’s not conducted by licensed therapists. And yet there is a freedom in not being licensed that allows the NWTA to push the envelope and create a deep, healing experience that isn’t possible in psychotherapy. One doesn’t preclude the other and both are important ways to create healing and freedom to connect to and express who you truly are and have a greater quality of life for yourself and your community.

It’s an intense training that will push you to your limit. It’s not for the faint of heart. If you are under any kind of psychological treatment, ABSOLUTELY clear it with your therapist first.

That’s about all that I have to say right now, I’m OUT THE DOOR! If you want to find out more, you may click The ManKind Project link at the beginning of this post. And of course, I’m happy to answer any questions you may have about it or my work if you just Click Here.

Thank you so much.

Blame

2011-09-27T10:08:00.000-07:00

"All blame is a waste of time. No matter how much fault you find with another, and regardless of how much you blame him, it will not change you. The only thing blame does is to keep the focus off you when you are looking for external reasons to explain your unhappiness or frustration. You may succeed in making another feel guilty about something by blaming him, but you won't succeed in changing whatever it is about you that is making you unhappy."

Dr. Wayne Dyer

You can blame all you want, but you are in charge of your life. Does that seem like news to you?

There's no one who is more in charge of your world than you. If your world isn't working, the burden is on you to change it. Yes, it may be really hard. Is your life worth doing something really hard?

In the New Warrior Training Adventure, and in the ManKind Project in general, we help you look at how you show up in your life and how you can take accountability for your choices.

Is that for you?

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Breathing

2011-09-15T05:07:00.000-07:00

There is a space between each breath out and each breath in where I choose life. It is also the space where change is made.

I can choose to breathe in change, or not. I can choose to breath in the same old way of thinking and being and doing, or not.

Same old, same old? Enough.

How about you? Ready for something new?

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

9.11 10 Years On

2011-09-11T01:09:00.000-07:00

I remember.

3057 and all their relatives and relations.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

A Man Tells About His NWTA

2011-09-02T15:18:00.000-07:00

If you are intrerested in the New Warrior Training Adventure, give this really really great blog post a read. Dr. Adam Sheck is a clinical psychologist and couples counselor in Los Angeles and the creator of the Men After Fifty Community.

Enjoy the read below or here.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

The ManKind Project

August 30, 2011 By drsheck

I’m writing this post on a Monday morning, following an intense men’s weekend training I completed last night sponsored by The ManKind Project. It is called the New Warrior’s Training Adventure (NWTA) and it definitely was an “adventure” that pushed my physical, emotional and spiritual limits.

Through a series of carefully sequenced processes, our group walked through our wounds and our shadows. I became more aware of those hidden, buried parts of myself as they surfaced.

A major part of the NWTA is focused on helping men connect to their “mission” and so I was delighted that the processes helped me to reveal mine:

“I create a world of playful connection by sharing who I am.”

Thank you so much,

Dr. Adam Sheck

Until I Listen

2011-08-23T05:56:00.000-07:00

"You'll never find
Peace of mind
Till you listen to your heart"

From Kissing a Fool, by George Michael off the Faith CD, 1987

I am not going to find piece of mind until I listen to my heart. Will you?

What does your heart say to you when you look at where you are in you life?
When I listen to mine, it is longing to tell you that men in the ManKind Project are just men looking to listen to their hearts. Do they always listen...no...but they continue to work the idea.

I am asking you to listen to your heart. Is it longing for a change, for a different beat, for what?

Come do the New Warrior Training Adventure and see if you can hear your heart after that. I bet you can.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

I'm Just Sayin'...

2011-08-19T10:29:00.000-07:00

Sustained By This Energy

2011-08-15T05:17:00.000-07:00

From MKP New Mexico

"Men have been warriors for thousands of years and every man has his warrior side. But social forces pressure many to repress or distort this part of themselves. They unconsciously substitute a "shadow" for the healthy warrior energy so essential for sustaining individual, family and community balance.

The New Warrior is a man who has begun the confrontation with the destructive shadow and has reclaimed hard-won ownership of the highly focused, accountable energy that empowers and shapes the healthy masculine self.

Sustained by this energy, the New Warrior is at once tough and loving, wild and gentle, fierce and tolerant. He lives passionately and compassionately, because he has learned to face his demons and to live his personal mission with integrity."

Do you know any men like this? Do you sit and talk and learn from men like this? Does it speak to you to be this kind of man? Not a metro-, ubber-, hetero-, homo- or other-sexual man; a man, a warrior of spirit, centered-energy, and vision.

I sit in a circle with these men every week. They are my friends, supporters, challengers, questioners, mentors, leaders, listeners, learners, heroes, failures, lights, and darkness.

Are you willing to open your life to the possibilties?

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

See Things Differently

2011-08-02T05:24:00.000-07:00

This post is about a man's experience as a staff man at a New Warrior Training Adventure for the deaf/hearing impaired.

The post lives at Brian, Dancing Bull's blog.

The ManKind Project strives to be inclusive of all men; deaf, blind, not deaf, not blind, gay, straight, religious, agnostic, atheist, political, not political, etc.

Enjoy.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

From Brian-Dancing Bull

"See things differently" by John S., one of my warrior brothers.

There is something I would like to share with you guys about the Mankind Project weekend that I staffed over November 3-5, 2006. Here is the article "See Things Differently" written by John S., one of my warrior brothers as below:

"When I got home Sunday night after the November New Warrior Training Adventure, my wife asked me the usual question: “How was it?”

“Humbling” I told her.

Like all training weekends, there was magic happening everywhere at the training site. Among the staff, among the initiates, and around the circle.

But this weekend was different.

Among the 32 new initiates, 9 men were deaf or hard of hearing. Two staffers were deaf, and 4 were hearing men who served as interpreters.

Throughout the weekend, men who can hear saw a world of expressive communication most had never seen before. And the deaf and hard of hearing men experienced an acceptance – no, something more – an embracing love many had thought didn’t exist.

It was humbling. But it took a while to find that feeling. Like most of the other staffers on the weekend, I checked in with fear at the first staff meeting.

Actually, that fear began back in September. When I learned the weekend would include deaf men.

You know how it is. The Voice kicks in. “Oh, that’s going to be weird. Maybe I shouldn’t do it. I don’t know sign language. Everything’s going to be different. I might feel uncomfortable.”

I held on to that burden for weeks. Every few days I’d consider stepping off the weekend. I struggled with the fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear that I’d make mistakes. Fear that I’d be left out.

But.

(You knew this was coming)

At the first staff meeting, I discovered I was wrong.

I cherish the mix of excitement and camaraderie that permeates NWTA staff meetings. Especially the first Monday meeting. When the men who have spent weeks getting the training organized come together for the first time. Men shift in their seats. Look around the circle. Clear their throats. Some laugh. Some hug. Men acknowledge others they know. And size up those they don’t.

This time, staff men talked about their uncertainty. Because of the deaf and hard of hearing men on the weekend, things would be different.

The weekend leaders shared their ideas about how the weekend might change. How would the deaf men get to the training site? How will music change during the weekend? How would we greet men as they arrived? How do we handle the communication in low light, or darkness?

It was clear there were a lot of unknowns. And that was good. There was an excitement among the staff that we’d be called on to improvise, be flexible, learn as we go. And that felt comfortable to me. As if it relieved the burden I’d carried about having to do everything right. If there were no rules, I couldn’t fail!

And then Greg G. kicked in. He introduced us to a deaf staff man, Brian D. I swear to the Universe, I felt a warm blanket of calm float over me as soon as Brian smiled and started signing to us. Man, what a presence he had. I was transfixed by his expressions, and the graceful choreography in his signing.

Greg and Brian led us into a process of beginning to understand the deaf and hard of hearing world. Each hearing staff man put in ear plugs and then we stood in the circle and tried to interact with each other without speaking. We fumbled, wandered, and waved our hands around trying to show an action or intention. It was a bit chaotic.

Afterwards, nearly every hearing man said he felt a lot of fear during the process. Some felt alone, some confused, and many felt angry.

I said I felt left out. Isolated. As though the deaf men knew more than I did. And Bob Beare expressed his feeling so well amid his tears when he said: “I knew I could take my earplugs out and stop my fear and confusion. These deaf and hard of hearing men can’t.”

I realized that feeling of isolation had floated around in my head in the weeks leading up to the training. Both for myself, and for the deaf men on the training. But as I let myself be in the moment more and more, I realized the dual nature if my expectation. I laughed at the irony. These guys had an extended communication that I could only vaguely touch. They talked with their hands, their faces, their entire bodies. My isolation quickly transformed into awe.

Communicating an idea between a speaking man, an interpreter, a signing man and back again takes much longer than communication between two speaking men, or two signing men. There was a lot of discussion among the leaders and interpreters about how to handle each step of the weekend with the deaf men.

The leaders embraced the idea of integrating all men in the group, rather than separating either deaf men or hearing men. As a staff member, I expected that integration might confuse people, but the opposite was true. I saw more emphasis on communication. And I realized how often we throw away words, or speak over each other so one man’s words are drowned by another’s. I became acutely aware of the limitations of spoken words, and the fluency of body language.

With both signing and speaking happening simultaneously, it seemed everyone paid more attention to meanings behind their words. The leaders were mindful of slowing down as they talked, looking at each man’s face, allowing their eye contact to linger a bit longer. It was a startling reminder of the power of non-verbal communication.

In fact, throughout the weekend, I often felt I learned more from watching the signing men than I did from listening to the speaking men. Many times I found myself staring in amazement as the interpreters worked. Or I’d be lost in a deaf man’s graceful, eloquent expression.

I know what a trip it is to close my eyes and let myself flow to the words and music during parts of the weekend. But I wanted to tell the hearing men to open their eyes and watch the interpreters instead!

I think what we all learned the most is that it wasn’t a weekend about deaf guys. It was a weekend that included deaf guys. We all learned new ways to stretch beyond our limitations, face our fears, embrace our strengths, and let go of the judgments we make about people we think we don’t understand.

I’ll be staffing an I-Group that includes signing men and speaking men. The I-Group leader told me one of his goals it to make it fun. I like that. I’m learning signs for all kinds of feelings and intentions. We’re brainstorming ideas for transforming what used to be spoken-word experiences into visual and sign-based experiences. It’s going to be a whole lot of fun, with plenty of imaginative learning for all of us.

And so, humbly, my journey continues."

John S.

Doing What Needs to be Done

2011-07-26T13:24:00.000-07:00

Looking for a bit of inspiration, today? Maybe Daniel Fratto can inspire you to get out and be of service to the world around you.

See this video.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Blindingly Simple

2011-07-07T02:28:00.000-07:00

Rich Tosi, an MKP founder, says this about the New Warrior Training Adventure:

“This work is, on the face of it, blindingly simple,” Tosi said. “If I can learn to love myself I am empowered to share that love with others in my life. And by sharing my love with others I have found that I receive it back one-hundred fold.”

Lifted from http://mankindproject.blogspot.com/2005/03/law-is-love.html.

What could be more simple?

This "work" is the work of the soul; the work of your soul. What could be more important than your soul work? What could be more important than getting real with yourself? I ask you to look at these questions and come up with yet another answer to put off this work or... come and do the work. Your choice.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Lost Art Of Manhood

2011-06-26T06:15:00.000-07:00

I appreciate a good thought on men and by men. So, today I repost this thought for you.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

The Lost Art Of Manhood

by Rick Willey

I believe that the true sense of what it means to be a man has been lost or somehow forgotten.
So, While I make no claim as to being the perfect model of a "real" man, I'd like to share my idea of what being a man really is.

Strong enough to be gentle.

Mean enough to be kind.

Honest enough to be hated.

Think about those statements a moment.

Strong enough to be gentle-
What I mean here is that the true strength of a man is in his ability to be gentle when needed, without the macho attitude so many display because they are afraid to be labeled weak if they show emotion. I could also add here the ability to be strong enough to admit his weaknesses, which also falls under the last phrase of honest enough to be hated.

Mean enough to be kind-
Some call it tough love,but sometimes everyone needs a kick in the butt to get straightened out. A real man will be mean enough to tell you about it, strong enough to be gentle about it, and honest enough to make you hate him for it.(until you realize his gift!)

Honest enough to be hated-
The word here is Integrity! Something that I feel is far too scarce in today's fast paced world but I'll save that for another day. Suffice it to say that if you are honest enough that there are people that hate you because of it; You're on your way to being a very good Man!

I'd like to suggest some great books for Men who are interested in improving themselves and our gender as a whole.

Fire in the Belly: On Being a Man: by Sam Keen.
King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine: by Robert Moore,
and Iron John: A Book About Men: By Robert Bly

Another great Mens resource is The Mankind Project http://www.mkp.org/. Men used to go through an initiation process that many youngsters seek out in vain by joining gangs or the Military. Both fall short of the mark. We need to once again mentor our young Boys (as well as some older men) to become REAL MEN!

What is Men's Work?

2011-06-23T00:56:00.000-07:00

"We don't need to sit around and tell each other 'We're fine the way we are.' Nor do we need to beat ourselves up for our real and imagined shortcomings. What men's work asks us to do is tell our real stories. It asks us to be honest about the source of the pressures and anxieties so many of us feel and too few of us articulate. And once we've laid the truth out on the table, men's work invites us to support each other in taking positive action to change our lives and to change the world in which we live. But we can't move directly to the action without first telling each other the truth. And at its core, the goal of all men's work is to help men do just that."

Hugo Schwyzer

I find it somewhat difficult sometimes to explain to men what "men's work" is to me. This quote pretty much sums it up. The ManKind Project is the place I can do my "men's work" with other men who are working.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Never Giving Up

2011-06-15T02:48:00.000-07:00

"Being a warrior has nothing to do with waging war. Being a warrior means you have the courage to know who you are. Warriors never give up on anyone, including themselves."

Sacred World: The Shambhala Way to Gentleness, Bravery, and Power (ISBN: 1570623619)

Being an initiated New Warrior (a man who has completed the NWTA) means nothing if I don't live my life in service to my mission. A warrior knows his mission and knows what needs to be done to stay on task with that mission.

Do you have a mission? Maybe MKP can help you with that...maybe it can't...that's up to you to step into.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Not a Cult

2011-06-07T05:14:00.000-07:00

I find it pretty amazing how many people seem to attach the word "cult" to any organization that has a limited membership. The a ManKind Project has a limited membership. Men.

Is the AARP a cult because it is limited to folks over 50? Oh, and the Girls Scouts are for girls. Man, that is some risky stuff, putting girls together without boys to keep it equal (sarcasm intended).

I found this great blog article (below) that pretty much dispels the cult issue for MKP. Not that there ever was one to begin with...

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

From IT'S NOT A CULT

The ManKind Project New Warrior Training Adventure Weekend

by Rion on 04/05/2011

My first foray into Men’s Work started when I was 28. I had met some men in my community that were heads and shoulders above the majority of the population in characteristics such as appropriate self-confidence, integrity, awareness, and life purpose. They inspired me to become like them. When I asked a few of them, they responded with suggestions like Mentoring, Rites of Passage, and Initiation. All sounded good to me, so I asked where to sign up. Several of the men all talked about men’s group, men’s work, and encouraged me to check out an organization with whom all had done an initiation weekend: The Mankind Project.

I was encouraged not to take any of the dogma too seriously, but to examine what they were aiming at and find opportunity for personal reflection and growth. They knew me well enough to know that my rebel would find any authoritarian dogma and just shut my ears to the wisdom, no matter how transformational it might be. I am sworn to confidentiality about what actually happens in the weekend, but I can assure you there is no circle-jerk, animal sacrifice or blood-letting. That disclaimer aside, the work is nothing short of miraculous. What I witnessed in my fellow man that weekend brought me to tears, shouts of rage, utter awe, and beaming pride. If you question what it is to be a man, how to bond with men beyond sports, chasing women or getting drunk, your questions will be answered.

Let me clarify on one this one point: Mankind Project is not a New Age, Touchy-Feely, Crystals and Meditation Organization. Mankind Project is getting to the core of being a man: including but not limited to our judgements of our own anger, sex, lies, bullshit, purpose, and confusion. If you want to know what is holding you back from being the man you were born to be, you will get a chance to look into a mirror so unobscured by distortion, you will probably look away in denial. The great thing about this work and this organization is that the weekend is just a gateway. It is opening up the door, looking inside, and seeing some parts of yourself – your shadow – that maybe you didn’t even know existed. It’s about being given a chance to examine what the word “integrity” means and to see how much of a man of integrity you really are. It is the opportunity to do the work to transform yourself into the powerful, brave man you were destined to become. It is the opportunity for you to examine and destroy old stereotypes and myths of what being a man never was even though you forced yourself to live up to such impossible standards. Most of all, it is the opportunity to be loved, accepted, and seen, just as you are, by a group of men, without judgement.

After the initiation weekend, Mankind Project provides meetings on a weekly or monthly basis depending on your location. Here you get to continue to do the work, get reflection, and have a safe place to express your emotion, challenges and accomplishments. I have had the joy of recommending this weekend to several of my brothers in the community, and was floored to see their experiences seemingly more transformational than my own. There are several men in my life who I would love to see engage in this weekend, but have such a stigma around what these types of workshops are, they consider themselves above it or it having no use. It is to these types of men that I specifically make this appeal: If you are interested in living your purpose, knowing your dark side, and being the best man you can be in your relationships, your job, and your play, enroll in the Mankind Project’s Initiation: The Mankind Project Warrior Weekend.

Happy of Myself

2011-06-05T20:05:00.000-07:00

I hear this boy's joy!

I wonder what this world would be like if we were all allowed to have our joy in such an unbridled way?

Are you willing to feel your joy and live in the joy this boy is feeling?

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Pouring Rain

2011-05-30T05:21:00.000-07:00

I was riding my bike to work today........in the pouring rain......wondering to myself.......what makes a man let go of what doesn't work for him and launch into the unknown.

For me, one reason was the need to see myself as I am; not as who I was pretending to be for everybody around me. I was pretty tired of keeping up the image I projected so that I could keep others happy. It was pretty tiring trying to remember all the things I am supposed to be all the time; and pretty useless spending time doing that.

So, one day I woke up the fact that I was wasting a bunch of time and I really wasn't being me. Time to launch into the unknown...the world where I am who I am and you have no bearing on that.

In my weekly iGroup, I have come to learn that you have your own stuff around being who you are-and aren't-and that I have no bearing on that, either.

Now, the ManKind Project and the New Warrior Training Adventure did not change me, nor did it ask me to change. I changed me. MKP is just the place that where I am supported in the work I want to accomplish; where I change me. Men sit with me and we work on our "stuff;" mine and there's; we are there for each other and ourselves.

So, I would ask you...what would it take for you to let go of what doesn't work for you and launch into the unknown?

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

I Can Only Imagine...This is the Love of a Father

2011-05-20T10:25:00.000-07:00

I am stunned at what men are capable of. If you want to see what a father looks like; what a son looks like; what it looks like to give it all; in my eyes this is it.

Click here to see the video (if you can't see it above). Click here for the Dick and Rick Hoyt Web site.

The way I see it, I am open to this because of my work in the ManKind Project. I can see the beauty of these men and the passion of the love.

I am blessed this day to know there are fathers and sons, like the Hoyts, in this world.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Footsteps of a Warrior

2011-05-06T05:09:00.000-07:00

"Let every step that I take
Leave the footprints of a warrior
Along the spirit trail."

Dan Fogelberg; The Spirit Trail from The Wild Places; 1990

Often I hear the footsteps of my past walking right along next to me.

I have made my share of ridiculous mistakes, blunders, close calls, and judgments based on the data I had at the time. One past positive decision that has stood the test of time was my choice to attend the New Warrior Training Adventure.

I attended the training in October 1999. I continue to do weekly work on my self and my life in my iGroup, Four Stone Circle. It is one of the most powerful places in my life; surely the one place that offers the support and challenge of other men who I trust to hold me to my word and intentions.

The ManKind Project offers that to you, as well. I wonder if one day I will meet up with you, in my iGroup, at a training, or wherever. I look forward to hearing your story.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

I Will Never Be the Same

2011-04-29T05:15:00.000-07:00

In this post, a ManKind Project man from the Pacific Northwest center shares his first time staffing experience at a New Warrior Training Adventure. He tells his story of serving the men who come to complete the New Warrior Training Adventure.

Is this what you want for you?

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

I Will Never Be the Same
By Bobby Bakshi

I believe that we are all one with our creator. I believe that life is a playground for us to live out the lessons we are to learn from and evolve. It is a chapter in our soul’s journey. The ManKind Project represents the closest I have felt to heaven on earth. For me, a community thrives thanks to the founders’ deliberate design of embracing our light and our shadow. That was the belief I stepped in with when I arrived on Thursday September 4, 2008 to begin the journey of my rookie staffing experience. This is an account of what I gave and took away during this magical NWTA weekend.

The theme of the weekend was impermanence, change and forgiveness. I believe it was thanks to this intention and a strong container built over two months that this NWTA was deemed to be among the most successful and flawless, according to Les Sinclair our leader. Let me begin to describe my experience with a few words about Les, from my perspective. Yes, the man is a legend. He is the embodiment of “servant leader” – part of his mission statement. He models the sovereign’s humility, the lover’s joy, the warrior’s strength and the magician’s intuition for me. He witnessed and blessed my dream and I am so grateful for the universe aligning for him to lead my rookie experience. There are many men I desire to mention by name but I will speak to my experience of those men without naming them for the rest of this sharing.

My personal theme for the weekend emerged in the form of one of my favorite songs/prayers: “I’ll never be the same.” Here’s a quote from Ester Nicholson’s song (click on the link if you choose):

“Been through the fire
been through the flood
Wouldn’t change a single thing
Not even if I could.
I’m so grateful
For all the changes I’ve been through
Made me reach a little higher
Draws me nearer to you
I’ll never be the same.”

This song fit well in my holding space with the weekend’s theme. The impermanence of my life – while I am blessed with a healthy body, I was full of the emotional scars I dragged around before. I believe my initiation a year ago was my final cleansing into my wholeness, into my truth, after years of living a lie. Four years ago, I started the journey of speaking my truth and recognizing that I cannot make the changes in my life I needed on my own. I stepped into Sex & Love Addicts Anonymous recovery that I give full credit for saving my marriage. Impermanence shows up in many forms for me and “I’ll never be the same” is such a blessing as I know I can change my reality for better or worse. I am at choice. Thanks to my doing my work and having a wide circle of men to support me, today I can face the fears of change with open eyes. I believe I do not deny myself those paralyzing feelings when change is difficult and uncomfortable. I also move forward much faster, recognizing that I know longer strive for perfection – instead I embrace the lessons every step I take has to offer. As an aside, I highly recommend taking LT-1 with Jim Mitchell where I learnt this concept that we all have four quadrants we constantly live from: brilliance, average, developmental and “oh boy, did I f— it up!” Thanks to this concept, I am able to live the “courage” in my mission more fully. I do not shy from taking chances. This rookie experience was exactly about that. When I saw an opportunity to serve, I dove in. When I saw an opportunity to be served, I asked for what I wanted.

The theme of forgiveness for this NWTA was also constantly present for me. Up until my initiation a year ago, I lived in fear of my shadow and only knew to ask for forgiveness of those I had harmed. I was at the ninth step in recovery and made amends to my wife. I am so blessed to have a powerful woman by my side for the past eighteen years. She has witnessed and been the victim of my shadow. My work at my initiation was about forgiving myself, the doorway to my feeling whole and alive. I am not fully there yet but thanks to my brothers in MKP and my continuously doing my work – I am dancing with my shadow with joy and strength that I did not have before. Thanks to being given an opportunity to bless during my initiation I am living a continuous blessing for myself and those I touch.

For those who have not heard, Les stated that this was the most flawless NWTA he has experienced in his 150+ trainings around the world. As a rookie, this sets a high bar for my future staffing experiences but more importantly it affirms what amazing things are possible when the container is strong and also nimble. Who would have thought that success possible in the midst of a potential crisis (all the toilets flooded in the both the staff and initiates dorms – no indoor showers and very few toilets all weekend)? I believe the toilet flooding was a big contributor to strengthening our container. Now do not get me wrong. It was not as if every moment was a song of harmony and oneness. There were certainly moments when men were angry and sad at how things were transpiring. What made the difference, in my opinion, was the real-time clearing and forgiveness work that I witnessed men doing. By the way, another first according to many senior brothers – no clearings at the opening circle for the staff.

The food was another “best ever” according to many senior brothers and leaders. I am so blessed to have enjoyed the amazing grub offered by the Men of Service. Let me add that if asked “something I don’t want you to know about me” is that I have great fear about doing MOS someday AND I know that I will step into it. I believe it is the foundation of support for the weekend and enables staff men to offer the initiates the best.

The initiates: where do I begin to relate the magic right from the start? These 40 men showed up ready to work. Yes, I am speaking in general about them as a group, as that was my experience. They opened up to sharing their truth. The did the exercises being present and open to the experiences offered. I witnessed no severe battles with how the initial processes are done which can cause many to crack. As a rookie, it was such an honor to do many things that one only gets to do as a rookie. Again, for confidentiality I will not name the processes but suffice it to say – my rookie experience Rocked!

Let me “call out” one set of new brothers – my brothers from my recovery program. Not only was this my rookie experience but I believe it was the first NWTA in our region with a large representation from my recovery community. We had 6 men initiate plus I had a dear friend who is in another recovery program go through as well (also an elder). Watching these men do their work, from a distance was magical. Not interacting with them till the very end was very important and I am glad that they recognized that as well. We had moments of exchanging eye contact but that was the extent to which I crossed paths with them – being very aware that this was their weekend, for them to create and own.

I am so blessed to have all these recovery brothers confirm what a gift their experience was to them. I now look forward to how they will live their mission and to supporting them as best I can in achieving their dreams.

Finally, but probably most important – I want to send a cosmic POW blast of love to my rookie brothers. We rocked 100%! We got to know each other quickly. We supported each other all the way. It felt like this constant dance of infinity between serving and receiving among us, with our senior brothers/leaders and with the initiates. We laughed a lot together and we shared deep truths that I will hold as sacred. I know that I will stay connected with them, even though we are physically apart. I am so blessed and honored to have served along-side my rookie brothers, and elders. I now go deeper in creating the life I want and it starts at home with my lovely wife and three children. Blessings and I’m out, for now!

So You Have a Vision

2011-04-25T05:12:00.000-07:00

So you have a vision or some great idea. Maybe it's an invention, a way to make better swiss cheese, or write the novel that changes the world.

What is at risk for you to take the idea by the b*lls and do it? What is at risk for you to to nothing about it? What's at risk for you to take one step toward that direction? What if you have to do it all by yourself and no one gives you any encouraging words? What if you have to give up something to make it happen; like say watching TV, sleeping in, working overtime at work, spending time thinking about how you can't do it.

Stepping into the fear is the issue. What do you fear? What is in the fear that keeps you where you are?

For me, fear keeps me from risking failure and ridicule. That's my world. There's a fear in there for you, too. Any idea what it is?

What keeps you from attending a New Warrior Training Adventure? You think it's a cult? Too new-age? Too old-school? You'll do it someday but maybe not? That's your fear talking.

I and other good men are waiting to see what you have to offer. Bring it.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Making a Better Man

2011-04-19T05:21:00.000-07:00

Today, I am posting an article regarding the ManKind Project and the New Warrior Training Adventure in Quebec, Canada.

Enjoy!

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Making a Better Man

By Anthony Bonaparte, The Suburban, June 2006

The small group is barely five minutes into a three-hour meeting when in walks Jean-Louis. The middle-aged man smiles and casually sits in one of the chairs that form the circle. John, one of the group’s leaders, leans forward and asks, “So what did you do to prevent you from getting here on time?”

Jean-Louis faces a barrage of pointed questions until he finally admits he was delayed watching 20 extra minutes of a Seinfeld re-run. Those minutes of stolen time make him feel like he was doing something illicit and somehow, it gives him a feeling of control.

“Do you do this when you're meeting with your son?” asks John.

There are upwards of 30,000 men worldwide who are members of the Mankind Project (MKP), a progressive educational and training organization for men, with 38 interdependent centres located around the world. The aim of the organization is to help men release their emotions by learning how to better identify and communicate their feelings. The group also strives to turn men into good role models, so they can become better fathers. By examining their restrained relationships with their own dads, group members work on not repeating the patterns with their sons.

Meetings like the one described above take place every second Tuesday evening at the Westmount YMCA where as many as 30 men gather regularly to challenge themselves and each other to take personal responsibility for their actions and their relationships.

“We're really about creating a safe place for men to dump some stuff — here — so he doesn't bring it back home,” says David Cordes, a 43-year-old father of three, and member of MKP.

Cordes, who has been married for 15 years, said before he joined MKP several years ago, he was always good at “being the party guy,” but when alone, felt sad and isolated. He learned about the group from a brochure. Eventually, he went on the training adventure weekend, an intense experience designed to help each man get in touch with his inner truth. Cordes says he came back in an altered state. The experience was like blowing the lid off a volcano.

“My wife said [when I got back] I was just thinking and taking deep breaths,” he says.

Cordes says he grew up with a lot of pent-up anger and hated his father for nearly 20 years. He credits the MKP for giving him the tools to reconcile with his father, and for him to become a better father.

The meetings, or circles, in Westmount are either open, or closed. The open circles are free of charge and welcomes newcomers who may eventually go on to enroll in MKP’s New Warrior Training Adventure. Men become full members of the MKP only after they have attended a New Warrior Training Adventure weekend.

“Usually, men who do the warrior weekend are part of these closed circles, in which they do work that sometimes can get quite intense,” says Jean-Louis. “This is an open circle in which people are invited just to come and see.”

But John Closs says, “I'm here because I really believe men need a circle.” In other cultures, men have been sitting in circles for ages and Closs believes it’s for good reasons — talking, sharing and communicating.

Closs is a 55-year-old computer technician with the LBPSB and has been attending regular meetings since 1997 when a business acquaintance introduced him to the MKP. That year, he attended Montreal's first Warrior Weekend, held at the Old Brewery Mission's Camp Chapleau in the Laurentians.

Before going on the trip, Closs spoke to his wife and she was very supportive. He shares with her what he has gained from the circles, but never reveals what he may have seen or heard from others. “My wife knows what I do,” says the father of two adult children.

Confidentiality plays a big part in circles. “What I see here and hear here stays here,” says Cordes. “It's about creating a safe container for men to share and take a look at things that they may not be comfortable to do outside of this place, or here, without that commitment from the group.

“There's a belief that every decision and choice I make is not isolated to one situation, that patterns exist inside of me that show up in a whole bunch of different areas. So the accountability piece is one way for a man to peel back a layer of the onion and take a bigger look at his life,” says Cordes.

Taking the Hard Stand

2011-04-11T05:26:00.000-07:00

Following up on the last post...Are you willing to take that hard look at how you show up in the world, where you shine, where you fall short, where you are stalled out, where you choose to hide?

What will it take for you to take a stand for who you are and what is righteous to you?

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

One and Many

2011-04-07T05:37:00.000-07:00

"Many faces, one heartbeat
They come together and join their hands
One voice, many nations
At the gathering they understand
You make a difference
With everything you do
Everything is sacred
Your faith will guide you through"

From Many Faces, Thayne Hake, 2000

Thayne is a wonderful musical artist from the Northern California coastal area. He sings of his native culture and how it is for him in this time and space.

I think what Thayne speaks of here is the connection we all have to each other. If I have faith that we are all sacred and related, then I will remember my place and my responsibility in it; my integrity in it.

In the ManKind Project, I see men working to find there connection to this time and space. For whatever reason, they and I, have need to reconnect with what is and isn't in the world.

It is often said in the ManKind Project that we look at what does and doesn't work in our lives. That, for me, is another way of saying, look at what your connection is to the world around you; how are you living in it; how are you hurting or healing it?

I want more men to look at this connection. The world would be a better place for it. Come to the New Warrior Training Adventure and see what it looks like to take a hard look at your life.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

For the Women

2011-04-06T05:48:00.000-07:00

For my wife and all the females I know and do not know....

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

MKP Men are Everywhere

2011-04-05T05:47:00.000-07:00

My loving wife reminded me today that I need to reduce my stress. Lately, I have been listening to TED videos (I listen, because I need to focus on my work) and I found the Raspyni Brothers from the 2002 TED conference.

What does this have to do with MKP and the NWTA? Well, Barry Friedman, one of the Raspyni Brothers, is a great friend and MKP man.

I get a big laugh from these guys and Barry is such a great man.

Have fun and enjoy...oh, and look around, you may be standing next to an MKP man.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

1947

2011-03-31T05:30:00.000-07:00

Jackie Robinson broke the major league baseball color barrier in the Brooklyn Dodgers' season opener against the Boston Braves in 1947. Playing first base, Robinson went 0-for-3 in his major league debut, but the impact he made on the America is immeasurable.

Those of you who read this blog regularly know that I am a baseball fan. But, more than that I am a fan of change and moving forward.

Doing men's work (changing me) is akin to Jackie Robinson walking to the batter's box for the first time. There's all kinds of voices, imagined and real, telling me to stay the same, stay snuggled in my ignorance or ego, stop trying.

You may think that you can't make changes like Jackie Robinson did. But, I am here to tell you that you can. Jackie Robinson was a man. That's all. He followed his path and stayed on it. You can do that, too.

How will you move forward today? How will you change you, and then change the world?

And by the way, GO Tigers!

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Manliness

2011-03-22T05:11:00.000-07:00

Today, I am posting a poem by a ManKind Project man from the northwest. I like his words so I pass them to you.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Manliness

By Steve Norcross; from Aho!

I used to think that

Manliness

Had to do with being mean

I used to think that

Manliness

Had to do with never being weak

Or

Sad

Or

Grieving

Or

In need.

I have a long way to go in being

Manly.

I still sometimes try to get my way by being

Special

Or by manipulating others by playing

Helpless

But I am learning, a little every day

That a man

Can be

Manly

By being honest, and clear

And knowing what he wants and needs

And

Courageously asking for that

And supporting other men

In what they want and need.

The world is desperate for

Manly

Men.

Let’s, you and I,

Become

Just that.

Men

Who are becoming

manly

Men's Work and Joy!

2011-03-04T05:48:00.000-08:00

Men's work is about joy....finding the joy in life by leaving behind that long bag we drag behind us.

This papa and his baby brought some of that to my day...so I wanted to share it with you.

Do a bit of men's work, sign up for an NWTA near you.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Moment in Time

2011-02-23T08:22:00.000-08:00

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

Mohandas Gandhi

I am moved to tears to see my brothers and sisters fighting for freedom in North Africa and the Middle East.

Tyranny is a fading mystery that will one day be merely a part of history books. No group of people can be held under the hand of another for long. The innate personal freedom in each of us will eventually bubble to the surface and create change. Personal freedom is the path to a cultural freedom.

This last weekend, I staffed a New Warrior Training Adventure where I witnessed 36 men walk into the world of change and freedom on their level. When one is held down by the government, the perceptions of the past, or one's own ego-limitations, their will be a moment in time for freedom to bloom and take hold. This was that moment for these men.

Will you stand in that and make your moment in time?

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Level of Commitment

2011-02-22T05:15:00.000-08:00

A key truth of the NWTA is that you direct your own training through the responses and decisions you make along your journey. The staff serves as your guides and mentors, but you choose your own level of commitment, and the depth to which you will explore the inner terrain of your life.

Pretty simple; your call. When and what it will be is completely supported and up to you.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Missions of Service

2011-02-08T05:39:00.000-08:00

From: MKP Missions of Service

"The ManKind Project does not claim to solve the problems of our time, nor do we offer any broad solutions or ideology. We do take important steps in addressing these problems by inviting each man to clearly see his choices, to live with greater integrity, and to offer his gifts in service to the world. The ManKind Project challenges each man to find and develop his own life's mission, and to live that mission fully with the support of a powerful network of other men."

When I live my mission, I am clear that I am creating something bigger than myself. I create a world of my choosing when I step into my mission and really work it. The MKP network of men support my work with honor and accountability.

What is your mission? Who do you serve? What is your focus? Where are you going?

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Radio Free Warrior

2011-01-25T00:04:00.000-08:00

Update: Listen to the MP3 file, here.

Friday, Jan 28th at noon PST, I will be having a live radio conversation about the ManKind Project/NWTA/initiation in the context of how men are making a positive difference as husbands, fathers, and models for growing boys.

I invite you to listen in live to KDRT 95.7 FM at http://davismedia.org:8000/kdrt.m3u.

I hope you enjoy the show!

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Questions About the ManKind Project New Warrior Training Adventure

2011-01-23T00:26:00.000-08:00

This post is from a New Warrior Training Adventure brochure that I worked on for the Carolinas Center. Good reading.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Over the years, men have asked many questions about the New Warrior Training Adventure (NWTA). We have collected some of those questions and added responses to better explain who we are and what we do.

What is the New Warrior Training Adventure?

The NWTA is weekend training sponsored by the ManKind Project (MKP), an international, non-profit organization dedicated to helping men live meaningful lives. The purpose of the training is to take men on a journey to connect head and heart, examine their lives, and create deeper, more powerful, and more joyful ways of living. The training is an initiatory experience relevant to our times that honors the sacred masculine and empowers men to action in the world.

Initiation

Joseph Campbell described initiation as a transformational experience involving separation, descent, ordeal, and return. Many of us have experienced "pseudo initiation" through divorce, death of a loved one, puberty, induction into the military, or incarceration. These are often transformative experiences, but they are usually incomplete and wounding and do not connect us to our authentic selves or to healthy ways of living. The NWTA provides a complete and healthy initiation relevant to our times where a man is separated from his known world, taken into a descent to face his limitations, challenged to grapple with his destructive as well as generative aspects, and then welcomed into a new community of authentic men committed to service to the world.

The Sacred Masculine

In our culture, so called "masculine" traits have been viewed differently at different times. In earlier times, such traits as aggression, fighting, strategic maneuvering, conquering, and destroying were valued in the battlefield warrior who was called on to defend the tribe and conquer other tribes. Later, many of these same traits were valued in the athletic, corporate, and military arenas in service to team, company, and nation. These warrior traits became synonymous with what it meant to be a man. We assert that this definition of manhood is incomplete and no longer serves us, humankind, or the planet, well. We affirm the need for a "new warrior" energy channeled into service of the betterment of humankind and the planet. And we claim a "sacred masculine" energy that embraces all aspects of our nature and that we believe is essential to healing ourselves and our world.

Action in the World

The NWTA model calls for men to live lives of service guided by vision and action. “Integration Groups" are available around the world to help men integrate their learnings from the weekend experience. Called I-Groups, these ongoing gatherings provide a place for men to support and challenge each other in their ongoing growth and healing and in living lives of service. I-Groups often have their own external missions of service such as working with men who have been abusive, mentoring youth, or other work in their communities. Other trainings are available to help men continue to grow, heal, and reach their full potential as mature men.

My life is working fine, so why should I do this training?

The NWTA opens a window that will allow you to expand your life regardless of where you are right now. Men who take the training come from all walks of life and are succeeding at many levels. Regardless of where you are in life, you should do this training if you are ready to look deeply at your life and begin a journey with other men who will support and challenge you to claim your full potential.

Will this training help me with work, family, and other relationships?

Being more in touch with your gifts, focused on your purpose in life, able to access your deepest feelings, aware of your shadows, working on healing your wounds, and being supported by authentic men should help you in all areas of your life; work as well as family, relationships, and your communities.

Many men have been betrayed and hurt by other men. Why should I trust that this will be any different?

Many men have good reason to distrust and be angry at the men who have broken agreements with them, betrayed them, and sold them out for personal gain. The hard truth is that if we have been wounded by men, most often men will be required to be part of our healing. The NWTA places men in ritual time and space where profound transformation happens. This experience creates a common bond of identity and shared purpose. New Warrior men are not naïve--we see men as they are. We do not put them on pedestals nor do we demonize all men. We understand the shadow side of men, have developed effective ways of embracing the shadow, and are discerning about dealing with the destructive aspects of men.

How does New Warrior view women and women's work?

We support all work aimed at healing people and the planet. We support women in their work to heal and reclaim the sacred feminine. We support Women Within, a women's initiation designed and run by women for women. In the NWTA, you will have an opportunity to look at your reliance on women throughout your life, including the positives and negatives of how you relate to women. You will get to look at how both parents shaped your development and how your relationship with your mother when you were young may be impacting your relationships with women today.

Why don't you give more details about the training--like an outline or a syllabus?

The weekend is meant to be experiential and transforming. If you know lots of details, your mind will form lots of preconceptions about what might happen. You would miss a lot of the mystery, beauty, and surprise of the weekend and it would be less transforming for you. We want you to have your own experience as it is happening.

Can I get a cheaper version of the same kind of experience?

The NWTA has been carefully developed and tested since 1986. It has been validated by more than 40,000 men. Over 30 men are involved in delivering each training. It is priced to cover expenses. The MKP is a non-profit organization. Scholarships are available for men who need financial help to attend. If paying the tuition is a problem, talk to the contact man at the end of this flyer.

Are there age limitations for attending?

You must be at least 18 to attend. The majority of men are between 30 and 50 but men older and younger attend and get great benefit.

How do I know this training is right for me?

Look at the web site at http://www.mkp.org/, read the material about the weekend, talk to men who have competed the training and joined an I-group, and attend an open house. Then ask yourself: "Does this feel right for me?" If you feel anxious about doing the weekend, or if issues arise, talk to someone who's been through the training. This training is not for everyone--men who are not ready to look deeply at and take responsibility for their lives should not attend.

Can I do it later?

You get to choose when and if you do this training. But ask yourself this: "Do I often put off things I need or want to do because of fear, procrastination, etc.? How has this pattern caused me to miss out on life?" A door is open to you right now while you're reading this. We encourage you to step through the door and claim a life that you may have only dreamed about.

Awakening

2011-01-21T02:41:00.000-08:00

"If the prince had not kissed Snow White—if instead he had sniped at her, 'What the hell are you doing still sleeping!?!'— then she would not have awoken. It is not those who judge and condemn us, but rather those who bless and forgive us, who awaken us from our lower nature and return us to our better selves."

Marianne Williamson, from The Gift of Change; ISBN 978-0060585341

Waking up is what men's work is about; waking up from the voices, the spells and messages, that have kept you down and small, whether those voices are yours or from others.

At the New Warrior Training Adventure, men will hold a safe space for you while you look at those voices; while you awaken and cast off the spell.

The ManKind Project is filled with good men willing to bless you with their hearts and knowledge of the awakening.

Is it time for you to awaken?

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Wandering Soul

2011-01-19T01:54:00.000-08:00

"In this magic hour between the dark and the dawn
In the space between the silence and the song
Suddenly the mystery is clear
That love is only letting go of fear"

I believe the hunger lives in all of us to achieve love and honor; a life unencumbered by hate and fear.

I believe one person can and does change the world.

I believe in you and me....we can do this.

Join me today in that wish.

For my MKP brothers who give of themselves in service to changing the world, one beautiful man at a time.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

If you can't see the video above, click here.

The Wandering Soul
John Denver at the Windstar Symposium; 1995

In this magic hour of softening light
The moments in between the day and the night
The instant when all shadows disappear
The distance in between the love and the fear

There's a longing deep within the wandering soul
It's like the half that understands it once was whole
Like the two who only dream of being one
Like the moon whose only light is in the sun

There's a danger in forever looking outside
You start to believe that all your prayers have been denied
And you forget the sound of your own name
And thus begins the suffering and the pain

I wanted an answer, I wanted a way
I wanted to know just what to do and what to say
I wanted a reason, I want(ed) to know why
Can there never be heaven right here on Earth and peace inside

Inside my heart
Deep in my soul
Within each part
And in the whole

There's a promise in the journeys of the mind
You begin to believe that there are miracles you will find
And that someday you'll remember who you are
The seed within a bright and shining star

That's like the flame that lives within a hungering heart
That only awaits a gift of love for it to spark
Into a fire that burns forever, endlessly
Like the river that can't help but meet the sea

In this magic hour between the dark and the dawn
In the space between the silence and the song
Suddenly the mystery is clear
That love is only letting go of fear

Love is the answer and love is the way
Love is in knowing just what to do and what to say
And love is the reason, love is the why
And love is in heaven right here on Earth and peace inside

Inside your heart
Deep in your soul
Within each part
And in the whole

Love is the answer and love is the way
Love is in knowing just what to do and what to say
Love is the reason, love is the why
And love is in heaven right here on Earth and peace inside

Change Starts With Me

2011-01-14T05:49:00.000-08:00

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

Gandhi

This is my wish for change...

Men will wake up and see their true power and strengths.
Men will see that they are responsible for everything around them.
Men will be accountable for what they do; how they do it; why they do it; the consequences of doing or not doing it.
Men will see the gifts they bring to the world.
Men will live in the now; stay present.
Men will answer, with integrity, the tough questions of their lives.
Men will be generous with the wonderful gifts they have to give.

In my MKP IGroup this is called projecting. I am projecting what I want onto other men. I am giving away my power to change by wishing it on other men.

I would be challenged by the men in my iGroup to restate this in simple I statements.

I sound like this…

I will wake up and see my true power and strengths.
I will see that I am responsible for everything around me.
I will be accountable for what I do; how I do it; why I do it; the consequences of doing or not doing it.
I will see the gifts I bring to the world.
I will live in the now; stay present.
I will answer, with integrity, the tough questions of my life.
I will be generous with the wonderful gifts I have to give.

In MKP, I am supported in making change in my life. Men (I) hold a space for me to change and look at what that change would mean to me and those around me. Men (I) support my struggles, my fears, my pain, my joy, my ambivalence, my mistrust.

I create the change I want to see in the world.

Will you take the steps toward change? Will you challenge yourself to speak for yourself and stand in it? Will you walk with me while I change me?

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

I Know the Way Out

2011-01-12T14:25:00.000-08:00

Wherever you are in your life, I do know the way out.

You will need to risk:

Being vulnerable to your own stuff
Protection from your well-worn armor
Winding up all your courage
Change
Living in your heart
Trusting other men to support you and hear you
48 hours of your precious time
It all

Come on....how many times have you tried to find the way out of your hole by yourself?

Let men from the ManKind Project get in the hole with you....cause we know the way out.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

The Hero’s Journey

2011-01-09T19:13:00.000-08:00

This post is reprinted from the Gay Travelers Blog.

I wanted to post this as this text describes what is the basic premise of the ManKind Porject's New Warrior Training Adventure.

The idea is you will complete a journey from what you know to what is unknown and back. You will complete a challenge and complete your hero's journey.

It won't be easy and it may be one of the toughest emotional challenges you may ever face.

You could refuse....but that's not the hero's way. Would it be a hero's journey if it were easy?

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

The Hero’s Journey
by Neil J Lloyd

What makes a hero? What makes a hero embark on his heroic journey? What will he find? How will this change him? How will he change the world?

Stories from ancient to modern times have told of the hero’s quest. Whether it’s the story of Prometheus, Nero (The Matrix), Molly Craig (dramatised in Rabbit Proof Fence) or Harry Potter, the journey is an integral part of the hero’s development and while this often involves physical travel or ‘doing stuff’, the hero is also going on an inner journey.

Joseph Campbell said “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.”

Campbell and others explored what makes a great heroic journey and discovered a model, known as The Hero’s Journey, which forms a template, not only for storytelling but for helping us think about our own heroic journeys.

Below are the main stages of The Hero’s Journey. I wonder which stage you are at right now?

1. The Known (ordinary) World
Where the hero inhabits before the story begins.

2. Call to Adventure
A problem, challenge or opportunity presents.

3. Refusal of the Call
The future hero may refuse to take up the challenge. This may be due to a sense of duty , fear, insecurity, inadequacy, or any other reason(s) working to hold the person in his current circumstances.

4. Meet the Mentor
The mentor offers advice, guidance or training for the adventure.

5. Crossing the Threshold
Moving into the unknown world, out of the hero’s comfort zone, where he is unfamiliar with how things work. There may be threshold guardians – people, things, events or thoughts that test the hero’s readiness to enter or try to block entry.

6. Challenges and Temptations
The hero faces trials and meets allies and enemies that help begin the transformation. There may be setbacks and a new idea or approach may be needed.

7. The Ordeal
This is the hero’s darkest moment, where he is in the abyss. Entering this stage shows a willingness to change. There is a letting go of the old and an embracing of the new during a supreme ordeal. A revelation occurs.

8. The Transformation
The hero’s fears have been overcome and he has been rewarded with new insights and power.

9. The Road Back
The hero must take the road back towards the ‘ordinary’ world to share his wisdom. Support from helpers and guides may be needed to make the journey and the hero may resist returning, wanting to stay in the ‘other’ world where he had found atonement (or at-one-ment).

10. Return
The hero crosses back into the known world, enlightened. He can now apply, master and share his newly found wisdom, knowledge and skill for the benefit of himself and his people. The hero is becoming ready for the next call to adventure.

Men on a Mission

2011-01-07T05:11:00.000-08:00

The following article is reprinted here to avoid losing it to the cyberspace abyss.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Inside the Mankind Project
By Tyler Blue, July 6, 2006, From the Santa Barbara Independent

We put a lot of pressure on ourselves as men; it’s easy to get caught up in society’s lofty expectations and lose sight of who we really are. We tend to isolate ourselves and process emotions alone, or not at all. But some things in life can’t be explained, they must be experienced. In the case of the Mankind Project (MKP), that means taking one weekend out of our busy lives to try a fresh approach to dealing with the issues we — as men — face. MKP is an international organization dedicated to male empowerment that offers a unique opportunity to reconnect with our core masculinity. Blending practical knowledge and sacred spirituality, the group gives men the tools to shape their lives based on an ideal vision.

The Mankind Project was developed in 1985 by Ron Hering, Bill Kauth, and Rich Tosi. According to its Web site (www.mkp.org), “The New Warrior is a man who has confronted his destructive ‘shadow’ and achieved hard-won ownership of the highly focused, aggressive energy that empowers and shapes the inner masculine self.” (Apparently, we all have a shadow acting as an opposing force to our goals, preventing us from achieving balance.) New Warrior Training Adventures are the focal point of the group’s work, with training weekends held throughout the year at 27 centers across the country, and others around the globe. Each weekend consists of approximately 30 initiates who go through a rite of passage along with 40 staffers. Nothing can be shared regarding the actual content in order not to create expectations for future initiates. Secrecy is so important that men are required to sign a confidentiality agreement.

Interestingly, the content of each training weekend is identical — it’s the energy and camaraderie of the participants that provide a different flavor. Certainly no group-therapy powwow, everything about the New Warrior Training is experiential. In order to apply the knowledge drawn from the training, men are encouraged to participate in weekly “integration groups.” These groups, which meet at different locations around town, provide a supportive forum to confront personal issues head on.

The local MKP community has grown exponentially over the last several years, jumping from roughly 10 to 100 initiated men, and they got a big boost recently with the establishment of an official training site at Lake Cachuma. (Previously, the closest location was in San Bernardino; diehard Warriors often travel thousands of miles just to participate.) Something must be pretty special to keep these guys coming back again and again. The mystery surrounding what the heck goes on during these weekends is enough to make a curious fellow plunk down $650 and see what the fuss is all about.

The Warriors

I met with three members of Santa Barbara’s Mankind Project community who reflect the life-altering potential of the New Warrior Training. James Wapotich, 40, is a lone wolf who has staffed the weekend 14 times. Six months after his initiation, he drummed up the courage to leave a stagnant job without another one lined up. In the past he would have worried but this time he knew it would work out. “I’m having a lot more fun stepping into the unknown and really relishing it,” he said.

Every MKP initiate chooses a unique mission stating their purest intention in life. “I create a world of expanding wholeness by letting love flow through me,” said Wapotich of his mission, which reflects his desire to shape reality based on a willingness to share love and other emotions. The New Warrior Training has also instilled in him a strong sense of leadership by forcing him to transcend self-imposed limitations. “A lot of what you learn there can be applied to various forms of business,” Wapotich said. “People seem to have more respect for me now.”

Stefan Hermann has staffed the New Warrior Training 46 times and clearly embodies his leadership role. The 47-year-old German is a former tennis pro who played Wimbledon twice before a career-ending injury. Prior to the weekend, he was unaware that his competitive persona dominated every male relationship in his life. “I always had to be better than the other guy,” he has since realized. MKP helped him establish a spiritual connection with himself and others. (Two of his four sons also participate in MKP.)

These days Hermann is not content to stand back and let things run their course. “I inspire the rewriting of the future by modeling, teaching, and coaching on the sacred path,” he said of his mission. After four years looking within, he reached out and has since made a big impact on local youth, representing programs like Share the Word, which entails speaking in schools about dating-violence prevention, and MASK (Managing Anger with Skill and Knowledge), an outreach program that addresses the devastating effects of repressed anger. “Domestic violence is a male issue because we don’t find healthy ways of expressing our negative emotions,” Hermann said. “Underneath the tough-guy layer is someone with lots of grief and anger. You can take that energy and use it in a healthy, constructive way.”

One of the main things MKP addresses is the lack of initiation rituals in our society. In indigenous cultures, boys in their early teens are guided through an intense, primal experience ushering them into manhood. MKP feels the absence of this in present times is a major cause for male shortcomings. Boys to Men (boystomen.org) is an offshoot of MKP that takes boys through an initiation process and offers them mentorship. Hermann hopes to bring the program to Santa Barbara next year.

Anthony Johnson, 56, has “always been on some spiritual path or another.” A firecracker of a guy, he has staffed 13 trainings over the last decade; he’s quick to clarify that “MKP is not some magic aspirin you’re going to take and presto change-o, become something new.” An African-American, Johnson was inclined to speak up during a training weekend about MKP’s lack of racial and ethnic balance. In typical fashion the group’s response was, “So what are you going to do about it?” Johnson’s answer was the Multi-Cultural Project, a movement he takes around the country offering weekends for warriors and their spouses. Through his mission he aspires to break down the barriers inhibiting deep human connection: “I co-create a world where all people experience profound relatedness.”

To that end, Johnson is currently living and breathing Initiation, the screenplay he co-wrote based on the book Of Water and the Spirit by Malidoma Some. LeVar Burton (Roots) is expected to star and direct. The story shows what happens in an African initiation from boyhood to manhood. Johnson shares Some’s belief that lack of initiation, avoidance of grief, and disrespect for elders are the greatest troubles facing men in our society. “For thousands of years in all indigenous cultures, boys have been taken on an ordeal and faced their demons,” Johnson said. The fact that most men don’t experience those ordeals “is why men in this society are so screwed up. … They never learned what it means to be a man."

Men Are Gray

2011-01-03T05:39:00.000-08:00

"Life has meaning only in the struggle.
Triumph or defeat is in the hands of the Gods.
So let us celebrate the struggle!"

Swahili Warrior Song

How many times have you looked at the world in terms of winning and losing? I know I do quite often.

Really, winning and losing is a point of view more than any reality. My win may be a loss for you or your loss may look like a win to me.

The world is filled with gray; while winning and losing is mostly black or white. A baseball team wins a game one day and losses one another. Pretty black and white.

The world of men is gray. We are not any one color; or two opposite colors. We are all colors and all ways of living and all ways of seeing.

In the ManKind Project, I have found that there is support for the grays in my world. I find men who challenge my grayness when it isn't serving me. I find men who support my grayness when it is serving me.

So come be gray with men who support you; whatever gray you may be.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Father to the Man

2010-12-21T05:23:00.000-08:00

"The child is the father to the man."

A sentiment that rings clear for me.

My experience as a child drives and compels my present and, if I am unconscious, my future.

In the ManKind Project, I hold space to look at how my past brings my present into focus and out of focus. The men in my iGroup help me with this, but ultimately I could just sit in iGroup and do nothing; although my mere presence in iGroup would be something.

I am asking you to take a look at how your past creeps into your present. Is it time to take a hold of the present while honoring the past? Do it now; sign up for the New Warrior Training Adventure and come to an iGroup. Maybe, I will see you there.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

A Significant Event

2010-12-13T18:34:00.000-08:00

This post illustrates the difference between a boy-mind and man-mind.

The trouble is many men are not dwelling in a man-mind; they are still living the boy-mind.

The ManKind Project takes men who have not had this opportunity and brings them into man space using the New Warrior Training Adventure.

I feel hopeful that there are many of these boy-to-man type initiations. Maybe one day the ManKind Project will no longer need to initiate boy-men into men.

Wouldn't that be wonderful.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

From Pathways Foundation; a group in Australia initiating boys to men.

Difference between Boy and Man Psychology

Boy Psychology

I seek acknowledgment
I want it all for me
Power is for my benefit
I am the centre of the universe
I believe I am immortal
I take no responsibility for my actions
I want a mother

Healthy Man Psychology

I seek that which I believe in
I share with my community
Power is for the good of all
I am just part of the universe
I know I am mortal
I take full responsibility for my actions
I want relationship with a woman

The shift from boy to man psychology is not one that occurs naturally. The difference in the two are so fundamental that a significant event is required for this to happen. It is the role of the elders within the community to create such an event or there is a risk that boy psychology will persist into adulthood.

2011

2010-12-12T05:28:00.000-08:00

Is 2011 the year you step into yourself? The year you take the New Warrior Training Adventure and spend time becoming the man you wanted be; should be; need to be?

The New Warrior Training Adventure is about change and reflection. Can you reflect on your life with honesty and courage and make some solid changes to be that man you want to be?

Do it this year.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Showering the People I Love With Love

2010-12-07T08:53:00.000-08:00

My Warrior brothers, Bear, Mark, and Silas Dyken, along with Somer Moon, create the band Clan Dyken. Give them a listen!

This song is for all the ones I love...feel my love shower on you all!

Deardra; my greatest, deepest love and best friend...I am forever yours!
Shannon, Emma, and Sarah; my sweet and kind girls.
Mom and Dad, Poppy and Diane, Uncle Dick, Dee and Jerry, Little Crow, Gee Gee, Marge; my elders.
Scott; my brother, so kind and misunderstood.
My MKP Four Stone Circle IGroup brothers; "Once you tell somebody the way that you feel, you can feel it beginning to ease"; Graydon, Matt, Stuart, Alex, Kevin, Art, Rick
My MKP Warrior brothers; in loving service...; Arthur B., Bryant B., Snake B., Phillip B., Francis B., Ron C., Paul D., Barry F., Harold G., Ken H., Boysen H., David J., Bill K., Jeremiah M., Marcelo M., Marshal M., Sparky M., Bill M., William N., Atler N., Joel P., Tom R., Jose R-M., Richard S., Rich T.
All my ballet family; Hanneke and Gary and all the wonderful folks associated with them.
All my friends who supported and loved me through the last summer; I love you all; "One thing can lead to another; it doesn't take any sacrifice."

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Shower the People
James Talyor; 1976 off In the Pocket

You can play the game and you can act out the part
Though you know it wasn't written for you
But tell me, how can you stand there with your broken heart
Ashamed of playing the fool
One thing can lead to another; it doesn't take any sacrifice
Oh, father and mother,and sister and brother
if it feels nice, don't think twice (yes)

Shower the people you love with love
Show them the way that you feel
Things are gonna work out fine if you only will (do as i say, yeah)
Shower the people you love with love
Show them the way that you feel
Things are gonna be much better if you only will

You can run but you cannot hide
This is widely known
And what you plan to do with your foolish pride
When you're all by yourself alone
Once you tell somebody the way that you feel
You can feel it beginning to ease
I think it's true what they say about the squeaky wheel
Always getting the grease.

Better to shower the people you love with love
(Yes and) show them the way that you feel
(I know) Things are gonna be just fine if you only will (what i'd like to do to you)
Shower the people you love with love
Show them the way you feel
Things are gonna be much better if you only will

Shower the people you love with love
Show them the way that you feel

They say in every life
They say the rain must fall
Just like the pouring rain
Make it rain
Make it rain
Love, love, love is sunshine oh
Oh yes, Make it rain
Love, love, love is sunshine yeah
Oh, right, Everybody, everybody, everybody, everybody

MKP for 5 Minutes

2010-12-02T09:39:00.000-08:00

This video explores what the the ManKind Project stands for, offers a brief history of the founding and creation of the New Warrior Training Adventure (NWTA) and looks at the different benefits that men get from being involved.

The ManKind Project asks you to fundamentally examine the way you were socialized and to move through the obstacles that will prevent you from fully living your purpose in the world.

Featuring Snake Bloomstrand, Jim Mitchell, Schuyler Cunningham, Matt Auron, & Carl Griesser

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Your NWTA and MKP Experience

2010-11-30T06:00:00.000-08:00

Readers: This post provides real men's experiences for you to read. I gain these contributions by asking fellow MKP men to contribute. Depending on how you get here you may need to click on the comments link below to see the contributions.

ManKind Project Men: The intention here is for MKP men to share with this blog's readers their experiences with the ManKind Project and the New Warrior Training Adventure; share the changes, the journey, the insights, whatever moves in you. I would like to see every initiated man post his experience with NWTA. A man can dream, can't he? Since it's easiest to post as anonymous (no Blogger account needed), please sign the end of your post with your animal name, NWTA location, and date. Click on the comments link, below, to leave your piece.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

There Was No Path

2010-11-29T10:05:00.000-08:00

"The great myths show that when you follow somebody else’s path, you go astray. The hero has to set off by himself, leaving the old world and the old ways behind. He must venture into the darkness of the unknown, where there is no map and no clear route. He must fight his own monsters, not somebody else’s, explore his own labyrinth, and endure his own ordeal before he can find what is missing in his life.

Thus transfigured, he can bring something of value to the world that has been left behind. But if the knight finds himself riding along an already established track, he is simply following in somebody else’s footsteps and will not have an adventure. In the words of the Old French text of The Quest of the Holy Grail, if he wants to succeed, he must enter the forest “at a point that he, himself, had chosen, where it was darkest and there was no path.”

The wasteland in the Grail legend is a place where people live inauthentic lives, blindly following the norms of their society and doing only what other people expect."

From The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness by Karen Armstrong

When you attend the New Warrior Training Adventure, you will find a place to take a journey into your unknown. There is a place in your life when you must take this path into the unknown.

I can't tell you when this will happen. But, I can tell you this. If you don't, you might as well just sign on to be someone else for the rest of your life. Does that sound like the path you want?

If not, then now is the time to sign up and walk the unknown path that is the New Warrior Training Adventure.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

I'm Am Sure I Won't Hurt Them

2010-11-17T10:11:00.000-08:00

"An oncologist once asked, "Since you're not trained in psychotherapy, how do you know you won't do these patients [patients in Siegel's cancer group, ECaP] harm? I replied, "I love them. I may not help, but I'm sure I won't hurt them."

Bernie Siegel; from Love, Medicine, & Miracles, ISBN: 978-0060919832

In a Mankind Project integration group, we are men of all backgrounds and titles. I suppose there are groups that have a therapist attending, but I am not aware of one.

We are not trained in psychotherapy. We use common group methods to reach into our hearts to do work around making us better, stronger, graceful, fiercely loving men.We concentrate on truth, honesty, integrity, accountability, and the basic emotions of joy, anger, sadness, and fear.We take deep looks into why we are who we are and what we want to do with that knowledge.We support each other in finding the ways that work best for each man.

I don't think we do any harm by loving a man or caring for him and his world.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Camper Parts Can Change Your Life

2010-11-10T06:31:00.000-08:00

One man's voice on the New Warrior Training Adventure from The Worlds of carl Michael rossi:

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

"A good part of the reason that I am here in Chicago is due to the New Warrior Training Adventure. I was visiting my family here in Chicago for the Christmas holidays when the camper, in which I had been traveling across the US in search of my next home, broke down. While I waited for the necessary parts I thought I was "stuck" here, and looked for ways to fill the 6 weeks it ended up taking to get the parts.

One of the things that happened as I filled the time, was I met a man. And he saw in me how truly stuck I was, and how my wandering wasn't getting me unstuck. He suggested I call a men's group called New Warriors. One thing I was aware of was how much I wanted a connection with men. No, how much I wanted to learn to be a man.

The short is, I went to "the weekend". And learned enough about myself that I wanted to stay for the 3 months of follow-up meetings with the men I had "gone through with."

That was in February of 1996. Eight years later I'm still here. Still growing. Still learning more about me. It's been the single most unexpected wonderful journey of my life...so far."

You Are the Cause

2010-11-09T11:50:00.000-08:00

"The cause of your problem is sitting right there in your seat. You are the cause of your problem, whatever it might be. At some point you will finally realize, hopefully, that you have put yourself in that position. Whether it is jay-walking, spitting on the sidewalk, having socially unacceptable sex, using drugs, drinking and driving, spending, cheating, lying, stealing, whatever it is, you are at the crux of it. You are the problem, as is the person next to you. If we believe in a God that has given us life and we continue to do things which destroy our energy, our mind, body and spirit, then we are the problem. It isn't God. It isn't Satan. It isn't the government. It isn't anybody else. It's us."

Little Crow, 1933-2004; from The Sacred Hill Within, ISBN: 0-9635440-5-5

What more is there to say? Can you get behind taking responsibility for where you are right now?

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

From Defeated to Renewed

2010-11-07T05:47:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share this great piece from Tim Riggs who recently completed the NWTA.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

From Defeated to Renewed

By Tim “Laughing Raven” Riggs

Tim Riggs DEFEATED…That’s what I was when I arrived at the September New Warrior Training at Camp WaRiKi. I felt defeated for many reasons. I have never had a good male role model in my life. I have always felt belittled and not equal to other men. This has been so bad that I felt worthless and angry most of the time.

Besides feeling defeated I have to say that I was really frightened. What was I afraid of? I was afraid that I was wasting my money attending a camp for men. I was afraid that I was getting in over my head, and would not be able to do what was required. I was afraid of being unable to reach my goals.

A very good friend and counselor, Dan Turano, had been telling me for over a year that this group was just what I was looking for. Even though I completely trusted Dan I had a hard time believing that a group of men whom I had never met would, or could, show support and care about me.

I have to say that the weekend was transformative. I am NOT the same person who arrived defeated and afraid. The men working at the camp demonstrated to me that they really did care about me. I felt that they heard what I had to say. I felt that they wanted me to become the man I really wanted to be. I finally felt accepted by a group of men. I was surprised that they wanted me, not because I could do something for them, not because I had something they wanted, but because they gave a damn about the man behind the pain and fear.

All of my problems are not gone. I cannot say that because of this camp that life is perfect now, however, these men gave me something no one has ever cared to. They gave me hope, and because of that hope I am now a New Warrior. I left the camp feeling a renewed sense of self. An internal peace seems to have replaced the fear, and acceptance has replaced the anger.

I cannot believe the quality of the men who worked at the camp. These men left me feeling humbled and in awe. I was humbled that they came to serve and care for me. I was in awe that they accepted me for who and what I am. Honestly, as I type this I am still amazed at the quality of the men at the camp. I am honored to be a part of these men. They are, and have, inspired me to become the man I want to be. That man is a reflection of each of them.

If you ever wonder why you do this camp I’ll tell you: you do it for men like me, who are lost. You do it for men like me, who are in pain. You do it for men like me, who are afraid.

So thank you, Dan Turano, for directing me to MKP. Indeed, thank you to every man who worked at this camp, and thank you to all of the New Warriors who went through this camp with me. I appreciate the support, the caring attitude and acceptance shown to me! Most of all Thank you for the hope! Because of this camp, and because of all of your hard work I am…RENEWED!

Movember

2010-11-05T05:29:00.000-07:00

In the ManKind Project, I press my self to be of service to the world in whatever way I can.

Today, "being of service" is to pass on a really fun and powerful service project called "Movember." It goes like this:

"Each Movember we challenge men to change their appearance and the face of men's health by growing a moustache. The moustache is our ribbon, the means by which we raise awareness and funds for cancers that affect men. Much like the commitment to run or walk for charity, our commitment is to grow a moustache for 30 days. Funds raised benefit the Prostate Cancer Foundation and LIVESTRONG.

I ask you to step up to support men supporting other men in a good way by visiting the website and growing a moustache!

I would join you, but I already have a beard and mustache (that are dyed black for the Giants!).

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Stark Light of Love

2010-11-03T13:59:00.000-07:00

The piece below speaks to the way men work in an MKP Intergration Group (the weekly group after the NWTA).

It is honest, forthright, unyielding in it's love and support. We hold each other up to the light of loving scrutiny to see what does and doesn't work in our lives.

What would it take for you to really look at what works for you and what doesn't?

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

"The Way of the Superior Man"
By David Deida

"About once a week, you should sit down with your closest men friends and discuss what you are doing in your life and what you are afraid of doing. The conversation should be short and simple. You should state where you are at. Then, your friends should give you a behavioral experiment, something you can do that will reveal something to you, or grant more freedom in your life."

Your close friends should be willing to challenge your mediocrity by suggesting a concrete action you can perform that will pop you out of your rut, one way or the other. And you must be willing to offer them your brutal honesty, in the same way, if you are all to grow. If you are at your edge, your men friends should respect that, but not let you off the hook. They should honor your fears, and, in love, continue to goad you beyond them, without pushing you.

If you merely want support from your friends without challenge, it bespeaks an unresolved issue you may have with your father, whether he is alive or dead. The father force is the force of loving challenge and guidance. Without this masculine force in your life, your direction becomes unchecked, and you are liable to meander in the mush of your own ambiguity and indecision. Your closest friends can provide the stark light of love - uncompromised by a fearful Mr. Nice act - by which you can see the direction you really want to go.

Choose men friends who themselves are living at their edge, facing their fears and living just beyond them. Men of this kind can love you without protecting you from the necessary confrontation with reality that your life involves. You should be able to trust that these friends will tell you about your life as they see it, offer you a specific action which will shed light on your own position, and give you the support necessary to live in the freedom just beyond your edge, which is not always, or even usually, comfortable."

Was It Fun?

2010-10-28T06:02:00.000-07:00

This post comes from a fellow warrior, Edward Manning, who talks about his staffing of a New Warrior Training Adventure.

I offer it to you as a reference to what can be found at an NWTA.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

Was It Fun?

I just staffed another New Warrior Training Adventure last weekend. Monday, one of my friends asked me, “Was it fun? Did you have a good time?” I think I grinned a loopy smile at him and offered a few token lines in response. Honestly, I wasn’t sure how to encapsulate an answer. What I really wanted to tell him was this:

I met a bunch of new guys this past weekend. Some older, some younger. Some looked like me, some looked very different. Some straight, some gay. And within the roughly 48 hours of time we spent together, I got to know their hearts, their inner core so well - and they me - that I actually cried upon parting. I actually *miss* men that I didn’t even know a week ago today.

I had a fierce confrontation with one of the weekend leaders. We really grilled each other pretty hard - we were both intense in our communication. I was angry and (in my opinion) he was too. And it was also respectful. We both managed to listen. He didn’t try to pull any “I’m the fucking leader” bullshit on me. He held himself accountable to his words and actions.

We both had softening moments because there was trust that we weren’t trying to dick each other over or prove ourselves right. The confrontation evolved from fierce to empathetic, to compassionate, to invested in supporting each other. Isn’t that the goal of confrontation? To get to that place?
An attendee (i.e. not-on-staff man) approached me on Sunday and told me that an activity I co-facilitated on Saturday morning would now change the way he interacted with his kids. He could barely speak to me he was so choked up with emotion. He kept saying things like, “I had no idea…I had no idea.” We walked together for a few moments, reveling in each other.
A room full of staff men shared grief and sparkling anger about racial disharmony. And not the fucked-up state of the world ‘out there,’ but rather the disharmony within our own staff, our own inability to stand in the fire of differences. It was angry. Fierce. It was also immensely sad, and there were tears of pent-up grief and frustration. We didn’t generate the solution that brings about world peace.

We did, however, get through the experience, stronger and more unified than before. We got through it with a few mens’ special grace leading the rest of us. We got through it with fear, anger, love, and sadness. We got through it with men willing to speak their hard and heartfelt truths and not backing down. And men loving each other beyond what is reasonable to expect.

I left with much to ponder about my contributions to racial disharmony. What do I need to look at?
There was also exhilerated, howling laughter. I cried from laughing so hard. Most of the jokes wouldn’t translate well in writing just because it’s a ‘had-to-be-there’ thing, but the thing that I loved about this kind of laughter is that the humor was not bitterly sarcastic, it didn’t shame anyone, it didn’t include mean observations about any individuals. Nope. It was goofy, playful, honoring. Teasing. Mildly self-deprecating without descending into viciousness.
One afternoon, a leader I respect a great deal came up to me and, out of the blue, said, “Have I ever told you that I love you? Have I? I need to tell you that. I love you. I really love you.” He walked away, and I was dazed.
I walked through fear. Actually, it’s probably more accurate to say, “I walked with fear.”

The phrase ‘walking through fear’ suggests John Wayne fortitude or some sort of Braveheart massacre of fear. Nope. I had heart-pounding reservations about doing a specific task and by my volunteering to step up, forced myself to look at that fear, walk with it, discover where it emanated from, and what I would have to do to get over it.

I did not get through this fear alone. One man sacrificed his free time to listen to me and reflect back parts of my shadow. Some of those men I had just met looked me squarely in the eyes, saying, “I believe you can do this. I’ll follow you.” And wisdom from men with far more experienced than I was applied lovingly, gently. I was mentored through this fear with the softness and fierceness of true mentoring, not impossible expectations and being set up to fail.

Was the weekend fun?

Nah.

It was so much better than fun.

It was joy and sadness and goofy pranks and firey conflict and feeling fear and hardness melting, and did I mention heart-so-wide-open-that-doesn’t-the-sky-seem-bluer-today? flavor of joy.

It was about being so very, very alive.

Old vs. New

2010-10-25T00:39:00.000-07:00

This post, from the Chicago MKP center, is about what an old warrior looks like and why a new warrior is better placed to create a stronger man in this day and age.

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

What is the New Warrior?

The Old Warrior competed with the elements, other animals, and other males, through force where necessary, for the ancient prize of survival. Our histories are filled with tales of combat and competition, male against male, tribe against tribe, nation against nation, for territory, food, women, and more. And competition and domination worked, we survived, when many did not. The memories of the struggle of the Old Warrior haunt our bones, and live and breathe in each of us today.

The New Warrior has looked at his Old Warrior in the eye. He has learned to spot the shadow of his Old Warrior, and to make new, healthy choices in his life. The New Warrior commits himself to living a life of passion, energy, and feeling beyond survival, to harnessing and openly directing his warrior energy into a personal Mission of Service in the world.

The New Warrior is a man for today’s world, ready for full, vibrant, equal partnership with other men and women. For most of us, the struggle for physical survival is over. The New Warrior has put down the sword, picked up his own heart, and placed it in service to himself and others.
What are the Characteristics of a New Warrior?

A man who has been taken the journey of the New Warrior Training Adventure is offered the opportunity to take on the characteristics of a New Warrior and take his place in the world carrying those traits with him into his family, his work, and his community. It is these traits and his choice to do his own personal growth that enables him to face the struggles of life, to attain his personal successes, and to forge ahead in his life’s journey with clarity and intention. These characteristics become the fundamental values of the New Warrior, by reshaping and redefining a man’s awareness of his world, his choices, and his feelings. These values include:

* Responsibility — A New Warrior is responsible for his life, his feelings, his choices, and his actions. He chooses his reactions.
* Integrity — A New Warrior’s choices and actions are consistent with his intentions, mission and commitments. He keeps his promises.
* Congruency — A New Warrior’s actions equal his thoughts and words. He does what he says he will do. He “walks the talk”.
* Self-awareness — A New Warrior examines his thoughts, feelings and behaviors. He is aware of his “shadows”, patterns, and limiting beliefs that compromise his integrity with these principles.
* Accountability — A New Warrior “owns” to another man when he is out of integrity. He acknowledges and owns the consequences of his actions, and the choices and intentions behind them.
* Clarity — A New Warrior discerns and articulates his feelings and judgments. He seeks understanding. He knows what he wants. He knows who he is. He knows the choices he wants to make.
* Mission — A New Warrior seeks to discover his true Mission of Service and to live in integrity with it.
* Commitment — A New Warrior clearly articulates his pledge or promise to do something. His intentions are clear and he follows through.
* Action — A New Warrior takes action to live his mission and fulfill his commitments. He asks for help when he needs it. He asks for what he wants. He moves through his fear. He takes risks.
* Service — A New Warrior offers himself through acts and deeds without expectation.
* Authenticity — A New Warrior is sincere and honest in all of his dealings. He is aware of and owns his feelings. He speaks his truth. He comes from his heart. He is genuine and real.
* Directness — A New Warrior speaks clearly to another man of his perceptions, feelings and judgments towards him. He neither practices nor tolerates sideways comments or “gossip”.

Between Love and Fear

2010-10-18T10:46:00.000-07:00

"The choice between love and fear is the eternal choice, the never-ending demand, the longest running show on Broadway. We make that decision with each intention that we make our own, and with it bring into our experience wonderful-feeling constructive consequences (love) or painful destructive consequences (fear)."

Gary Zukav

When a man steps into attending the New Warrior Training Adventure, he steps into a place he may have never been before. For sure, there will be challenges. I can tell you that those challenges are as individual as snowflakes. Each man walks the line of fear differently than another.

What Gary talks about above is choice. You, as a man, can choose to live in fear or love. You are the only one who makes that choice. It is completely in your hands. Does that sound foreign to you?

I hear excuses to live in fear from other men all the time.....you should hear what goes on in my head sometimes. But it is up to each man, me included, to live in love and not in fear.

So take a moment and look at where you are not showing up because of fear. Where do you not show up because you have chosen fear over love? Where do you become complicit with fear? Where can you choose love?

I'm out.
Old-faithful Wolf

What’s All the Secrecy About?

2010-10-09T19:02:00.000-07:00

Updated 10.09.2010

Why don’t I tell men about what transpires during an NWTA weekend?

It’s pretty simple, really. There are two parts to this:

One part is that this is an initiation weekend. That in itself pretty much speaks for itself. If I told you what was going to transpire, your experience would be polluted. I, for one, do not want that to happen for you.

We have an uninitiated man in sitting our iGroup circle-of-men right now who is attending an NWTA in November. He has been in the circle for a couple months. I take this very serious and guard his experience with great care. I do not want to give away anything to corrupt this men’s time at the NWTA. I think we are all very diligent in our iGroup to keep the weekend processes and experiences out of our iGroup. It can be challenging. In the past, we have had to ask an uninitiated man to step out of the circle (out of the building, in fact) so that an initiated man could talk openly about a process that occurred during his NWTA. Both men’s needs were taken into account. Both men got what they needed.

The second part is that, during an NWTA, I feel there are processes, that without context, are not understandable completely. The processes have special meaning and standing and I do not want to randomly give that out. Again, it goes back to creating a space for men to come into that is unique and unpolluted for every man.

The NWTA is about the uninitiated man. Each man does his NWTA differently than any other man. If you knew what was going to happen, that would take some of uniqueness away.

When I attended my NWTA, I had no idea what was to transpire. Looking back, I see that there was no other way for me to get my unique experience.

The official MKP standpoint is here.

So what stands between you and your NWTA?

I'm out.
Old-faithful Wolf

Livestrong Day

2010-10-02T10:45:00.000-07:00

OCT 2, 2010

In memory of my Victor "Poppy" Larson and Richard "Uncle Dick" Larson.

In honor of those who fought with them both to the every end.

In loving support of those who are fighting cancer and those who have chosen not to fight.

LIVESTRONG!

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf

For My Poppy

2010-09-24T21:21:00.000-07:00

Men have been tough and strong men for ages. Nothing new there. Rarely do men touch so many with so much as my Poppy did.

Victor Larson, my Poppy, led a life of hard work and with the toughest of determination. He was the toughest man I ever knew. He was tough mentally. He was tough in his beliefs. He was a man, deep and true. He had a love for tennis, deep and complicated finance, family, and his spiritual faith.

He was not perfect. He had flaws, mistakes, and pasts that haunted him. He made amends where he could and where he couldn't, well, that was his business, not mine.

He was taken from us this morning at 4.55 a.m. Brain cancer overcame him after 18 months of busting his ass to fight it. He never gave up. EVER. He fought with all he had and with great valor, courage, and grace.

So, I dedicate the video above to him; for he was a brave man to the end.

Victor Larson
Victor Larson
Victor Larson

Aho!

I'm out.
Bravehearted Old-faithful Wolf