Aloha Kazu, this post resonated with me. There are so many connections to my Hawaiian culture about the flow with gender identities. No judgement, just flow.
Thank you so much Melin! I don't know a whole lot about Hawaiian culture but I imagine many cultures that are still close to the land have a much more expansive understanding of gender! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for commenting! I also desire that space, and hope that we can have the broader Masculinity Jam sometime soon! In the meantime, I wonder if you know my friend Jacoby Ballard? He often leads meditation retreats and yoga workshops for trans folks.
It's so good to know such gatherings are happening for men today. I appreciate your insights and sharing. Love your question for all being: "The deeper question is, 'in this moment, what energies do you have access to? What does this moment require?'"
Beautiful reflections Kazu, thanks so much for taking the time to write them out. I’m sorry it didn’t work out to apply this year, but hopefully another time (let me know if y’all want to look at something in the Southeast).
I love the Joanna Macy reframe of grief you quote, as the “measure of our connection to each other,” and how that is a beautiful thing and a sign of something good, and strong.
One interesting Q came to mind with what you brought up near the end around men, and how it seems like it can be true for women too:
“What if being a man means that we are allowed to express all that moves through us? The grief and the joy. The rage and the silliness. The confusion and the certainty. The loss and the gifts.”
Maybe some men and women just need more support in owning the yin or the yang sides of themselves (thanks a lot for that framing in terms of Taoism, lots to reflect on there). What do you think though?
And yes, I think that is true for people on every point of the gender spectrum! Because the expressions of gender we are given in our culture is totally binary, none of us get to truly express the wholeness of who we are! The reality is that every one of us is a dynamic balance of yin and yang energies. And taking the gender framework out of it by expressing "yin" and "yang" energy allowed us to own more of who we were without all of the muck that comes with our socialized and limited understanding of gender.
Aloha Kazu, this post resonated with me. There are so many connections to my Hawaiian culture about the flow with gender identities. No judgement, just flow.
Thank you so much Melin! I don't know a whole lot about Hawaiian culture but I imagine many cultures that are still close to the land have a much more expansive understanding of gender! Thanks for sharing!
Definitely, Kazu!
I’m a Trans guy looking for sacred space with other men.
Thank you so much for commenting! I also desire that space, and hope that we can have the broader Masculinity Jam sometime soon! In the meantime, I wonder if you know my friend Jacoby Ballard? He often leads meditation retreats and yoga workshops for trans folks.
No, I don’t, but I’d like to and also invite you and them to Alfred, NY for hospitality in my Fugitive Sanctuary and Gentlemen’s Den.
It's so good to know such gatherings are happening for men today. I appreciate your insights and sharing. Love your question for all being: "The deeper question is, 'in this moment, what energies do you have access to? What does this moment require?'"
Thank you Shelly!
So beautiful. Thank you for sharing. <3
Thank you for all you've done to make it possible!!!
Gorgeous post. Like medicine for me. Thank you.
Thank you Jeff!!!
Men learning to regulate, apologize and lean on other men seems a hell of a lot more useful than another lecture about “female nature.”
Absolutely! There is so much work to be done just in men's spaces!
I can see how the truth mandala fits beautifully into this space. Thank you for sharing this.
LOVE the Truth Mandala! What a helpful tool and I'm so grateful to Joanna Macy for it!
Beautiful reflections Kazu, thanks so much for taking the time to write them out. I’m sorry it didn’t work out to apply this year, but hopefully another time (let me know if y’all want to look at something in the Southeast).
I love the Joanna Macy reframe of grief you quote, as the “measure of our connection to each other,” and how that is a beautiful thing and a sign of something good, and strong.
One interesting Q came to mind with what you brought up near the end around men, and how it seems like it can be true for women too:
“What if being a man means that we are allowed to express all that moves through us? The grief and the joy. The rage and the silliness. The confusion and the certainty. The loss and the gifts.”
Maybe some men and women just need more support in owning the yin or the yang sides of themselves (thanks a lot for that framing in terms of Taoism, lots to reflect on there). What do you think though?
Thanks Brendan! I hope you can come another time!
And yes, I think that is true for people on every point of the gender spectrum! Because the expressions of gender we are given in our culture is totally binary, none of us get to truly express the wholeness of who we are! The reality is that every one of us is a dynamic balance of yin and yang energies. And taking the gender framework out of it by expressing "yin" and "yang" energy allowed us to own more of who we were without all of the muck that comes with our socialized and limited understanding of gender.