I’m heading off this morning, going for a weekend with the ManKind Project.
I’m off to initiate men in the New Warrior Training Adventure.
For the next 24 hours we will travel, arrive and prepare to be in service. We will get clear within ourselves, get clear between each other, and get clear on our roles and missions of the weekend. We will prepare with the seriousness of a military mission where lives are on the line.
And then it will all begin. We, the men staffing and the men experiencing the weekend for the first time, will leave behind all the trappings of our usual lives: our jobs, cars, tasks, duties, ranks, hobbies, families, to-do lists, 401(k)’s, TV, email, and even our smartphones.
Over a weekend of challenge, learning, experiences, and more challenges, things will begin to shift.
And then ultimately, the men who came for this rite of passage will get to lay down and break through things they have carried with them for years (usually, really decades – most of their lives). The stuff that’s been running us, hiding us, trapping us, driving us – killing us – can get seen and released. As a therapist of over 14 years, it’s the most powerful stuff I get to be part of.
I know for me, going through the NWTA (that was November 2015, at the very same Camp WaRiKi that I am trekking to today) brought me back to life after a 2-year funk. It put me in touch with new energy sources I did not know (or had forgotten) existed. It put me back on my mission in life and returned me home a better father, a better husband, a better friend, a better therapist, and a happier person. I am immensely grateful I took the risk (it seemed utterly crazy at the time, but I was desperate).
If you ever are curious about this training, I am happy to answer any questions you might have.
See you on the other side!
