On July 4th, 2017, I awoke with severe back pain. My wife suggested that it may be kidney related and urged me to drink lots of water. I did, but the pain was even worse the next day. A visit to my doctor took kidneys off the list, but an X-Ray yielded a diagnosis of “diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis” (DISH) for short which is a strange form of osteoarthritis.
My first ConneXions Workshop is scheduled to start in less than three weeks and I have only five people signed up. I have an interesting challenge facing me: bootstrapping a whole new business where I am responsible for 100% of the deliverables which include the website, the email campaigns, the course content and the event logistics and marketing. I feel a bit like Sisyphus pushing the rock uphill, but I am the one who chose the hill and the rock. I feel a bit of overwhelm on a pretty regular basis, and that should not be a surprise. At the … Continue reading
In 1990, I was hired by Microsoft as a Director of their Core Consulting Team for Microsoft Consulting Services. I sold my house in San Jose and moved my family to Redmond, WA in September and dove in. It didn’t take me long to realize that the powerful currents at Microsoft were pulling me under and I was into a political situation that was way over my head. My boss also realized that his team wasn’t working well, so the whole bunch of us went off for a weekend to do some “team building”. During the weekend, something profound happened … Continue reading
It’s Monday morning and I am in re-entry. I completed a very intense training this past weekend and I am still in a bit of an altered state. The training is called LT3 (Leadership Training 3) and is the capstone of the MKP leader training programs. I felt considerable growth and clarity as a result of the weekend. On Friday evening, we did a process and I granted myself license to try something different. The leader gave me some tough but insightful feedback later that evening and I could feel myself starting to spiral downward… into the rabbit hole of … Continue reading
I attend yoga every Sunday morning that I can because Paul Millage bookends the yoga asanas with kirtan and afterwards many of us sit in circle and explore the spiritual aspects of yoga and our lives. In this morning’s circle, a young woman with tears in her eyes asked us to pray for the people in Israel and Palestine.
(With thanks to my wife, Donna for the title and the poem) I awoke this morning feeling fuzzy and low energy and started the day slowly by listening to Krishna Das sing Kirtan. The phone rang, jolting me from my peaceful reverie. It was Ron Roesler reaching out to help me plan and pull together the Second Annual Gathering of the Tribes, an event I am leading that will take place in just over a month.
One of my earliest childhood memories was sitting at the top of the stairs listening to my father yell at my mother and hearing her scream as he hit her. I felt helpless and scared and I promised myself I would never do this to my children. I took in a message that men with power will hurt people. I feared my own power. I didn’t want to hurt others. I gave my power away whenever I could. I feared leadership, but time and again
Last June at the Gathering of the Tribes event, I declared myself to be a “Community Elder”. Even though there is no such role defined within The Mankind Project, the term seemed to resonate with many men. In this post, I attempt to define my vision a bit further.
In September, 2013, I staffed my 33rd NWTA weekend. I am considered a senior staffer, one who knows the weekend quite well. I was asked by the weekend leader to step onto the leader track for the weekend because he didn’t think there were enough experienced men. I have staffed with this leader before and it worked quite well, so I stepped on as a leader in training (LIT)… for this weekend only.
I was initiated as an MKP New Warrior at Camp Melacoma in November, 2001 and I have been active in MKP ever since. I became a certified PIT leader in the Puget Sound Community by around 2006, joined the MKP I-Group Council and lead the rewrite of what is now the MKP PIT manual. I have done 32 (or 33) NWTA staffing, been on the Leader Track twice (busted myself both times) and considered Ritual Elder, but it just didn’t call to me. I started an I-Group in Bellingham in early 2002 and it is still meeting every week and … Continue reading
