March 10, 2014

The following excerpts are from the blog “Personal thoughts on the Journey into Manhood weekend” on the North Star website: … “My discussion here is confined to these three important points: (a) what are some reasons I should go, or what things can I expect to learn or gain from the weekend, (b) what red flags are there that could mean I’m not ready, or this won’t be a good experience for me?, or that I don’t need to go/won’t benefit from it, and (c) what expectations should I have for the weekend and–even more importantly–the time following it? In other words, will the weekend really change me, and how? The secrecy thing can tend to get overblown. There is actually a lot about the weekend that can be discussed, as you will see in my post here. (d) why is it called Journey into Manhood?” …

“4) If you want to gain much greater insight into how you see yourself as a man, how you see other men, and how you see masculinity in general, and if you’re interested in challenging and having an opportunity to modify these conceptions. There are several ways the weekend helps you look at them. For example, I learned that a lot of my beliefs were more deep-seated than I thought, and I learned where they came from, how they have actually benefited me, but how now might be the time to discard them and get new ones. There were also aspects that I liked and wanted to make sure I kept. No one will impose on you what your uniquely correct way of “being a man” should be.” …