Famous author and Oxford University Professor CS Lewis once remarked: Friendship is born at the moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.' I'm guessing, though I'm sure it's not a stretch, that he must also have had community in mind when he said that. I … Continue reading Sharing The Power Of Community Building & Beholding
One man returns from burying his father in their homeland, yet is too busy now with caregiving his wife and three kids (including a five-month-old baby) to grief his recent loss. Another struggles with his decision to resign from work after less than a year, due to mental stress triggered by caregiving his special needs … Continue reading Ingredients For A Thriving Community — A Preamble
Tender Tribes / A Star To Be Born It’s 3 amHave you a friendTo call? If you doGood for youA tender tribe is born! What's that?You ask. A chatGroup for the lost? No my dearNot midnight beerCertainly not your boss! It's a communityOf men in unityA tribe to belong Tender and gentleNot trophies on a … Continue reading My Monday Metrical Musings #243
Male Loneliness Men struggledMen sidelinedMen friendshipDisappearing Men disparagedMen unemployedMen domesticReappearing Men institutionsMen isolationsMen tribulationsMultiplying Men suicidalMen solitudeMen aloneReluctantly Men everywhereMen nowhereMen silencedDisturbing
In the blink of an eye, my boys (and I) survived the first month of 2022. And what a month it's been! New books, uniforms, teachers and friends. Most of all, new routines and happenings. Looking back, this first month was pretty much all about these things, these adjustments. Some of them I saw coming. … Continue reading “Boys will be boys, don’t ask why.” Really?
On World Children's Day, let me share about a recent poolside encounter. A couple of weeks ago, I overheard an interesting conversation between a male who looked to be in his late 50's and a young boy about my son's age of 12. The exchange took place at a neighbourhood pool where I go for … Continue reading On World Children’s Day – How a poolside encounter reminded me what truly counts
What a difference a year makes to International Men's Day (IMD)! For those not in the know (and I'm guessing that's most of us!), there really is such a thing as an annual IMD, and it's happening in two days' time on Nov 19. A year ago, I wrote about IMD. At that time, I … Continue reading IMD 2021 — Towards better gender relationships
So last week I started this mini-series to talk about how to retire well. You do that you know, when you're like me; a man past 50, increasingly living on borrowed time! In that post, I talked about the first of three important truths I've come to embrace: If we don't want to suffer retirement … Continue reading How to retire well #2 of 4: Know who you are and what you love
Two days from now is the annual UN International Day of Older Persons and one thing remains unchanged. Despite the inevitability of it, few of us bother to plan for the day we retire. Until recently, I would include myself in that unfortunate lot. Why unfortunate? Studies show many of us who fail to plan … Continue reading How to retire well #1 of 4: Have a plan “with legs”
Last week I wrote about the unfortunate, ongoing trend of parents who don't listen to their kids, invariably leading many of them into depression. Or worse. Today, I want to share some practical strategies to help parents, should mental health issues ever surface in our children. It'll also be my way to archive valuable info … Continue reading Mental Wellbeing #2 of 2: Parents, listen without prejudice!
