When I Stopped Practicing What I Preach ~ A Lesson in Self-Care
For thirty years I’ve told men what they need to hear about looking after themselves. This year, I forgot to listen to my own advice. I was running three jobs, carrying the guilt of stepping back, and quietly applying the same shame to myself that I hear from the men who sit across from me every week. The break wasn’t optional in the end ~ it was imperative to my own self-care. And in that recharge, something new was born: Spirit Warrior.
Why Vulnerability Is the Most Courageous Thing a Man Can Do
There’s a quiet epidemic among men right now — and it looks a lot like strength.
Men have been told — through sport, through silence, through the way their fathers held themselves — that keeping the heart locked away is what strength looks like. Power. Control. Independence. Don’t let them see you struggle.
But here’s what 30 years of sitting with men has shown me: the man whose heart is closed isn’t strong. He’s exhausted. He’s running a race with no finish line, carrying weight he was never meant to carry alone.
A closed heart doesn’t just affect a man inside. It closes down his relationships, his connection to his kids, his capacity for joy. Closed heart ~ closed quality of life.
This post is about what happens when a man finally lets himself feel. Not a breakdown. A beginning.