Mancave Minute: Mentoring

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Mancave Minute: Mentorship

@raymondspeaks and I were recently having some conversations about the original intent for the founding of The Mancave and BRO coin and it ignited some reminiscing on my part with regards to those core beliefs of why The Mancave initiative was started in the first place and one of the main areas of interest in that endeavor was the development of mentorship for men. One of the most ludicrous suggestions of modern thinking is that masculinity is an issue……it’s not…….toxic masculinity is and how better to combat masculinity than with gentlemen of substance and integrity patterning behaviors that solidify healthy masculinity and a more honorable representation of what being a “man” entails?

I think one of the most effective means of demonstrating that behavior patterning is through the utilization of mentoring. A great deal of my life successes are the fruition of being fortunate enough to have men of substance as mentors throughout my personal and professional life and I owe them a debt for the knowledge and grounding base they provided to a young man who “wasn’t raised right” lolol. I was adrift on a sea of a toxic search for identity and what it truly means to be a man. Through their generosity of time and them pouring knowledge into me my path was much less tumultuous than it should have been. There is so much driven power in the philosophy of “iron sharpening iron” and how we make each other better through the honest inspection of each other's intentions, motivations, and methods of navigating life.

We have been greatly misled by a minority position of society to believe that being a man is toxic, that it is harmful. If that were the case why are there reams and reams of research revealing the detriment of an absence of a father figure in the development of children. We, as a species, are composed of many elements of both the masculine and feminine and each are necessary for healthy development. With this knowledge, it is even more imperative that we, as men, take a more active role in the mentorship of other men, that we set the bar and example of what being a man truly means and living that path unabashedly. We owe it to future generations to set the standard for healthy masculinity and show a definite and intolerable abhorrence of toxic masculinity. We are the gatekeepers of manhood and this was a founding tenant of The Mancave, a place for men to find support and brotherhood on this path of righteous masculinity. We too often lack a balance for masculinity.

I recently wrote in a message…”i think it is imperative that whoever it is understands that toxic masculinity is false masculinity that you can be manly and still have compassion, that the key to being a "man" is having the renaissance mentality of embracing all aspects of manhood, the dirty, the refined, the gentleman, the poet, and the warrior, they are not exclusive of each other……..like i can cry before a monet and still knock you out if tested lololol”

We need to be “warriors in a garden, not gardeners in a war”.

Each one of us possesses an expertise in a given field of endeavor. I challenge each of you to take up the torch and responsibility to be open to mentor someone who’s life trajectory could be immensely improved by your guidance and counsel. I dare you to be the men you were created to be, I implore you to be the man in someone’s life that you needed as a young man trying to find who you were. Be the change you needed as a child to someone else.

All That Is Gold Does Not Glitter,
Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost
-Tolkien