Boys

 Boys will be boys. That’s a given.

Men will be boys. And that can be the end of it.

Men will be men. This is where the work happens.

Men

 Men will finally achieve equality when:

There is a “Masculine Protection Products” aisle at Kroger’s

and

Male pole dancers make as much as female pole dancers

and

Men can go to the office in a nice sleeveless summer shirt

and

Men can show affection in public as they want without shame

and

Did I forget anything?

 

Naked time

 We can’t dismiss the value of naked time. Gone with the clothing that protects us from outside forces. Gone with the uniforms that define us. Gone with the fashion that we use to depict ourselves. Forget concerns for hair or for the creams and oils for anti-this and anti-that.

Let go of vanity. Return to your day-1 outfit. Spend time with yourself, free in your own body. Nakedness for its own self.

So sleep naked. Lay around naked. Swim naked. Watch TV naked. Vacuum the house naked. And no, just wearing underwear doesn’t count.

Like a man

 

Men

 Men.

Glory in your role as pack animal. For you cannot bear the burden of childbirth.

Men.

Glory in your role as seed bearer. You cannot carry the child, but you can sow and mow and row and tow.

Men.

Glory in your stereotypical role as the bumbling husband. Then your natural responsibility and skills will reap surprising rewards.

Men.

Glory in your role as doting father. Doting looks really great on FB and really ups your empathetic abilities.

Men.

Glory in your cooking skills beyond the BBQ grill. Chefs are really sexy these days, and it’s the manly thing to do.

Men.

Glory in your ancient role as hunter. Go fishing, kill rodents and spiders, trap raccoons and possums.

Men.

Glory in your manliness and manhood that are the gift of testosterone. Hormones are not forever. 

Big love

 A very few of us have the reach to embrace the whole world, learning to love everything in it. But each of us has the capacity to embrace a piece of it, a piece we choose to love. If we choose do this, this small love gives us to understand the power of big love.

Behemoths

 The behemoths of government, religion and education can be demanding, constricting and rigid as they go about their job of creating structure in societies. The arts are pervasive and eternally present in their task of revealing and explaining what makes us human.

The behemoths and the arts are neither culprits or saviors. The behemoths can be oppressive or can give us the tools to save us from ourselves and the chaos we are capable of. The arts can be complacent or self-centered or give us hope, beauty and appreciation of our humanity.

We need both of these. We need to allow them to do what they are tasked to do, but we need to work vigilantly to make sure they are doing their tasks well. We need to recognize that they work best when together they collaborate in healthy and respectful balance.