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— Men's Gathering 2010
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September 26, 2009 at 11:46 AM
Looking Forward – What do men need today? - Looking for your input
Whether or not you will be able to make it to this year’s Men’s Gathering on October 9th – 11th, we would like your input.
Part of the theme for this year’s event is “Looking Forward – What do men need today?"
I am interested in hearing from you about the issues or ideas that you are passionate about when you think about this question: What do men need today?
The pieces that we get back from you may be used in one of the exercises that will take place during this year’s Gathering. So here are some suggested guidelines followed by instructions on where to post your responses.
To maintain both a personal as well as outward focus, I’m interested in hearing your place in the issue that you write about:
- How do you feel in the face of this issue?
- To what degree are you personally engaged in the issue and how is that working out for you?
- In context of the issue that you are writing about, what is your vision for yourself and the world?
Your piece does NOT have to be hopeful and positive – there can be plenty of passion around things about which we feel powerless, shameful, and angry as well. Your piece can be a call for action, a challenge, a plea, or just a question around which you wish to engage with others.
Keep your writing tight and focused – try for something that would take little more than two minutes if read aloud.
Your written piece should be an invitation for men to engage with you. It should focus on what men can grab onto – so keep the information about the issue short, and go long on your passion and what you are hoping to see. If you do come to this year's Gathering, there will be plenty of opportunity for men to discuss the issues that spur the most juice.
Once you have something written, please click on the Comments link below and post your piece. Or if you prefer, send it to me directly at andrew@menswork.org
Others like this entry: News
Comments
Posted by: Andrew Gross
The following was received via e-mail from one of our community members who, sadly, will not be able to make it to this year's Gathering:
What do men need today?
Issue one: To take better care of our health.
1. We don't go to the doctor and/or dentists for checkups. We need to
exercise more.. . join a gym.
2. a. I've joined a gym and exercise regularly. Only $40 a month and the
free endorphins are sure worth it.
b. Getting regular PSA tests helded to find my prostate cancer when it
was only at Stage 1. All gone now thanks to the radioactive seeds they
put into me to kill of the cancer.
3. If men were more careful about their own health, they might also start
to consider the health of the community and the planet, too.
Issue two: Work/Life balance:
1. Need to do work for money that allows you to have time and energy for
the rest of your life. Work to live, not the other way around.
2. I started a business 28 years ago so I could stay home and be with my
sons when they were sick or go on a school trip. I made less money then
otherwise, but
Found out that the BEST JOB is being a hands on DA.
3. Spending more time with our children means that children learn to
value men more and to be raised in a world with men who are present and not
just with presents from men.
Won't be at the gathering. Blessings to all the men. May it continue to
be the BEST MEN's GATHERING anywhere.
Love,
F.P.
Posted: September 27, 2009 03:21 PM [East Coast USA Time]
Posted by: martin kwapinski
What Men Need Today
What men need today is not much different than it ever has been, and those things apply equally to men and women. Men need affirmation, and a sense that they are using their talents to achieve worthwhile goals that reinforce universal human needs. They need a sense of belonging – to a group, family, culture, society, or something else – that provides an external framework or set of mores that helps them to orient their internal moral compass. They need love, friendship, and nurturance, and an acceptable outlet to express these things themselves. They need someone or something to “look up to” that provides these things that individuals cannot provide for themselves.
Unfortunately, popular culture is full of warped images of what it means to be a man. Often our entertainments portray men as overgrown, foolish boys, or raving, addle-brained oafs, and the constant exposure to these types of images leave us without any clear idea of what manhood is really about, or how a man should act. As a result, many of us adopt a caricature-based notion of what a man is, and we do not know how to behave properly, or where to go to get the advice we need to improve ourselves.
What am I doing about this? I adhere to the motto, “think globally and act locally.” I try to model my notion of “masculine” – or at least “grown-up” – behavior. I was an adult leader in the Boy Scouts for over 20 years, and have even taken a few of my Scouts to Buffalo Gap. I actively participate in my local church community as a leader and teacher, and I act as a mentor to others – women as well as men – at work. I keep up with my old friends, and work on my marriage with my wife and with a community of like-minded married couples. I also seek the help of others when I need it for my own sake, for personal growth or in times of trial. And I try to keep a positive attitude that things can improve if enough of us lead by example.
martin kwapinski
Posted: September 29, 2009 04:14 PM [East Coast USA Time]