Monday, February 2, 2009

A New Journey and a New Me(?)

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I'm "seeing" a therapist/life coach via telephone. The sessions have been fantastic so far. Well shortly after my first session, Joe recommended that I sign up for a weekend retreat called "The Mankind Project". The training is called the "New Warrior Training". I think the name infers that today's world requires a different kind of "warrior" male than previous generations. So I signed up today (grabbed one of the last slots for the weekend of the 20th).

I gotta be honest, I'm nervous. This is not a cult, but they do call this the "Initiation". Joe says one of his best friendships came from his experience there and he's now a facilitator for the program. He's had two lengthy sessions with me on the phone and now feels very sure that this is a great program for me. It's up in the Santa Cruz mountains, in a camping environment (cabins I'm assuming) but we're supposed to bring a sleeping bag and a towel.

The program is intentionally ambiguous because that's part of the process. It is only for men of all colors, nationalities, and walks of life. So after the weekend of the 20th, if I seem different, hopefully it will be for the better. I may be asking some of you to come to a graduation ceremony of sorts several weeks afterwards. And yes, I'm free to leave at anytime if things get uncomfortable for me and I've already asked... they don't serve kool-aid.

No comments: