Hello Kindred Souls!

We have just returned from our Men's Playful Adventure Retreat, and I want to fill you in on some of the trip's highlights.

Our weekend was spent on the west side of Mt. Mansfield, a big beautiful mountain near Burlington, Vermont. We stayed at Underhill State Park in the group camping area. Quite simply, we sat around the campfire, shot the bull, played some games, had meaningful conversations about important things in our lives, ate a lot, held several meditation circles/ healing rituals, took a couple hikes, played a couple more games, sat around the campfire and talked some more.

Personally it was a time to relax, breathe in the fresh mountain air and recharge my batteries. It felt awesome to break into a sweat as we played and hiked. I  could feel my heart pounding and the blood coursing thru my veins, affirming my physicality and my gratitude for being alive.

I loved our improvisational chanting around the campfire. I was delighted to hear the sounds that came out of my own mouth! What joy and courage we give each other, in our willingness to be open, honest and playful. We played volleyball that turned into a game where we passed around the ball using only our heads and legs.  It became a passionate collaborative effort, one in which, as we got drawn deeper and deeper into the game, we moved and acted as a single organism.

There were many moments where I let go of my individuality and surrendered to something much greater than myself. I get great joy being with a group of men where we put aside our egos and competitiveness to create a spirit of playfulness and unity. It is these times when the fragmented aspects of my masculinity are irresistibly drawn closer, attracted by the mutuality, the respecting and the joy of our camaraderie.

There is much healing needed in this age for our collective masculine. It is overly portrayed and acted out thru acts of violence and power over others. From childhood we've been taught to view maleness as dominating, a perpetrator, that somehow even in our love of the feminine we will inevitably be destructive. It's tremendously healing for men to come together in the spirit of mutuality, where we celebrate our joy, our strength and our passion in constructive and collaborative ways. It is healing a very old gap within us all, men and women.