it is death, loss, and surrender that crack open the heart of man and open his eyes to life. These tend to be very hard experiences. When a man feels and understands the transience of all things, his own mortality, and that of everyone he loves, only then does he grab the fiery sword of life, just like the Samurai warrior meditating on death every morning. When a man returns from this encounter with the darkness, only then does he fully wake up to life. There's a level of surrender here that is not easily described. It is about surrender to heartbreak, loss, pain, change, and even death. At some point in every man's life, he has to learn how to surrender and let go. This takes the ultimate courage. This is not the surrender in the sense of like passive submission. It's more of the surrender in the sense of an honorable death, and it is essential to open masculinity. Like I said, immature masculinity is always tight, but mature masculinity is profoundly strong yet surrendered. Oddly enough, it is the heroic act of surrender.

amid suffering that produces a glowing vitality and depth of feeling within man. Traditionally, this encounter with death was facilitated in nature and assisted by Elders: silence, fasting, psychedelics, pain, poison, and/or fear. From as many trials, an initiate would emerge with renewed strength and the Open Heart of a warrior. I talk about these initiations extensively in my book and in a recent video called manhood: what we've lost. Ultimately, the spine and the Heart must both be cultivated and tested repeatedly in order to produce a strong and integral man. Unfortunately, we protect our boys from these trials and encounters today. This is a massive disservice to everyone. We raise boys in a safe and sanitized World, teach them all manner of nonsense, give them endless entertainment, and ship them off to schools and jobs that disconnect them from both their bodies and hearts. This is not where masculinity thrives, but where does it? Masculinity thrives where there is danger and direct problems to overcome. Manhood itself is the Quest for order catalyzed by chaos or challenge.

thrives in the wild places, where there's open space to conquer and Mastery to be gained. [Music] It was your father's. Teddy Roosevelt is perhaps the symbol of rugged masculinity for the West. Although he started off life as a sickly and weak boy, young Teddy was plagued by asthma and health restrictions. His father encouraged him to engage in various physical activities, including boxing and weightlifting. Under his father's guidance, he embarked on a rigorous exercise routine and outdoor adventures. Roosevelt's love for the natural world grew, and he started exploring the wilderness, hunting, and embracing the challenges of outdoor life. In fact, he flourished out in the wild west, where there were wild and dangerous spaces left to explore and direct challenges to face. This adventure developed the masculine qualities of courage, self-reliance, fortitude, leadership, and industriousness in the active enterprises of life. In many ways, Teddy transformed himself into a mature masculine leader through his confrontation with the wild. He saw the

rapid urbanization of his time emasculating men and creating degeneration in culture. He made the extensive National Park system to preserve the wild places of natural hardship where boys could still become men, and manly virtue was still preserved. Nature preservation, in many ways, is synonymous with masculine preservation. Manhood and mature masculinity are catalyzed by Challenge and Open Space. Men need the freedom to explore, to challenge themselves, to test themselves, to overcome things, and often they do this together. Although it's essential for boys to develop their own identity in becoming men, masculinity is not always a solitary act. In fact, camaraderie in community is at the core of it. Boys and men Thrive when they face challenge together. It is literally what the masculine craves direct purpose and confrontation as a team. Hey, thanks for watching. If you want to see the whole video, click here to watch What You Need to Know About Men and Masculinity. Peace.

The untold truth about masculinity

The untold truth about masculinity

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