I have a tendency to get hung up on details. My husband will enthusiastically attest to that. It can be a problem.
And the detail I can’t get past in this essay is: what do you mean they informed you that you got double the amount of sleep you thought you got?
The only way this is possible is if you were wearing a sleep tracker on your wrist, they had access to that data and they kept careful records so they could refer back to it if necessary.
If it’s just people who were nearby saying “No, I remember. You slept for 7 hours” why would their memory be more valid than yours?
I don't know much about MKP and after reading your initial article I wanted to take time and consider what you would said and to delve a little more into them. So, I'm glad you posted this follow-up. To keep it short because substack keeps wiping out what I type. Big picture it was a learning experience for MKP and you. Well in our current society most men are looking for an organization like MKP and they do seem to provide some of those support systems that men have lost. While I get the idea behind their weekend and admit that for a lot of men it's probably something that they would be drawn to and and a lot of ways they might need. That ritual challenge or rite of passage can be a very powerful thing. However a man that's already been through a Dark Night of the Soul; be it from extreme trauma, prolonged mental health issues or literal combat etc. Reopening those old wounds that have have been patched over can be very dangerous. People that have already survived that level of trauma and managed to come through on the other side usually don't need to do it again. In many ways they've already survived the hero's journey. While I understand MKP's desire to include everyone, which they should. Perhaps greater warning and maybe even a different type of weekend for men who have been through more than say the usual traumas that our society throws at us. I would also remind anyone who would think about going on that weekend to remember one thing about a hero's journey. The hero doesn't always survive and if they do come back they're not the same. While I understand that change is part of the goal I don't think they want to make it so that people don't survive. Which they did seem to demonstrate especially in the aftermath of what you have gone through. I suppose I could put a Lord of the Rings reference here about frodo having completed the hero's journey but not being able to stay in middle-earth but I'll leave it at that. Like I said at the beginning this seems to have been a learning experience for everyone involved.
I won’t speak to what is a distraction for you, valid though it may be.
Whatever wounds you have will certainly remain throughout your life. The darkness isn’t something to run from but integrate and then rebirth holding, both, dark and light, a will for each to be a part of any future nows; we don’t rid ourselves of our past, that’s not possible, but we do get to counter any “programming” that arises.
The now, the moment between then and our future is all we have, how we choose to react a matter of discernment; The A-priory moment that each of us experiences in the throws of time, holds a feast for the senses, for our soul, with our “reaction” to it defining either: the end of that now, or, the now extended for an ability to stay open and not define it.
That’s it.
Don’t allow your past to collapse your nows. If the past is too painful to let rest, therefore not allowing any now to be extended, find the strength to live that past with acceptance offering grace and forgiveness, each leading to peace.
I send my love and best that you find this path and walk it.
Honest, fair, and respectful, Stephen. I dig it. Thank you.
Thank you for reading
Hail you!
❤️❤️
I have a tendency to get hung up on details. My husband will enthusiastically attest to that. It can be a problem.
And the detail I can’t get past in this essay is: what do you mean they informed you that you got double the amount of sleep you thought you got?
The only way this is possible is if you were wearing a sleep tracker on your wrist, they had access to that data and they kept careful records so they could refer back to it if necessary.
If it’s just people who were nearby saying “No, I remember. You slept for 7 hours” why would their memory be more valid than yours?
I don't know much about MKP and after reading your initial article I wanted to take time and consider what you would said and to delve a little more into them. So, I'm glad you posted this follow-up. To keep it short because substack keeps wiping out what I type. Big picture it was a learning experience for MKP and you. Well in our current society most men are looking for an organization like MKP and they do seem to provide some of those support systems that men have lost. While I get the idea behind their weekend and admit that for a lot of men it's probably something that they would be drawn to and and a lot of ways they might need. That ritual challenge or rite of passage can be a very powerful thing. However a man that's already been through a Dark Night of the Soul; be it from extreme trauma, prolonged mental health issues or literal combat etc. Reopening those old wounds that have have been patched over can be very dangerous. People that have already survived that level of trauma and managed to come through on the other side usually don't need to do it again. In many ways they've already survived the hero's journey. While I understand MKP's desire to include everyone, which they should. Perhaps greater warning and maybe even a different type of weekend for men who have been through more than say the usual traumas that our society throws at us. I would also remind anyone who would think about going on that weekend to remember one thing about a hero's journey. The hero doesn't always survive and if they do come back they're not the same. While I understand that change is part of the goal I don't think they want to make it so that people don't survive. Which they did seem to demonstrate especially in the aftermath of what you have gone through. I suppose I could put a Lord of the Rings reference here about frodo having completed the hero's journey but not being able to stay in middle-earth but I'll leave it at that. Like I said at the beginning this seems to have been a learning experience for everyone involved.
I hear you, and honour your speaking out.
I won’t speak to what is a distraction for you, valid though it may be.
Whatever wounds you have will certainly remain throughout your life. The darkness isn’t something to run from but integrate and then rebirth holding, both, dark and light, a will for each to be a part of any future nows; we don’t rid ourselves of our past, that’s not possible, but we do get to counter any “programming” that arises.
The now, the moment between then and our future is all we have, how we choose to react a matter of discernment; The A-priory moment that each of us experiences in the throws of time, holds a feast for the senses, for our soul, with our “reaction” to it defining either: the end of that now, or, the now extended for an ability to stay open and not define it.
That’s it.
Don’t allow your past to collapse your nows. If the past is too painful to let rest, therefore not allowing any now to be extended, find the strength to live that past with acceptance offering grace and forgiveness, each leading to peace.
I send my love and best that you find this path and walk it.