Schedule of Open Men’s Circles

1st and 3rd Wednesday of every month
7 – 9:00 PM

We meet in Holyoke, Massachusetts – close to Rte. 91 and the Mass Pike. 

REGISTER HERE

And we will reach out to give you an orientation and provide location information.

Open Men has now been running for over a decade. This is a PROVEN model for improving any area of your life.

We don’t try to make friendships … we make powerful bonds between men.

We build brotherhood. A ‘regular guy’ can step into this space and be feel empowered to tell the unvarnished truth about his life.

We’re not here to put on a show for each other.

We’re not here to set ourselves up in opposition to a perceived ‘other’ in the world.

We’re not here to offer salvation.

We’re here to cut through the bullshit that we’ve been taught are the fundamentals of being a man.

We’re here to step through the fear of showing up authentically, warts and all, in our lives and loves.

We’re here to find and explore our self-made purpose.

  • If you are a change agent, a man working with others for the good of society – the skills you can learn here are essential to your efforts to create sustainable solutions in the world.
  • If you struggle with commitment, with discipline, with emotional honesty, with feelings of powerlessness or inadequacy, with anger, frustration, depression – this is a kind of bonding that will help you break old patterns and find YOUR PLACE in a community.
  • If you are outwardly successful and looking to become more integrated with other parts of  your life – this is a place to come and explore, refine and express the other parts of yourself that may be hiding out in the shadows.
  • If you have never felt safe or at ease in a group of men – this is a place to figure out why and to change that. Your success depends on your efforts.

Without moving beyond ‘connection by cause’ and into ‘bonded commitment’, efforts to create and sustain community will fail … over and over and over.

Movements fail not because of the lack of good ideas or even good organization, but because of the lack of mature bonding – the kind of connection that allows groups to overcome personal and psychological blocks and resolve interpersonal conflicts in a way that is energizing rather than draining to their efforts.

This is what we’ve been doing for over 37 years in the ManKind Project.

This is what we strive for in Open Men.

Is it easy? Hell no. Becoming a mature man isn’t easy. That’s why most men act like immature boys when faced with tough issues – emotional issues.

Is it worth it? Hell yeah. Making this commitment to yourself can change everything in your world.

the ‘RULES’ of Open Men

I’m sick of rules. Life seems to be full of them. I think men like to break the rules, but it’s hard to find a safe place to do it. See if some of these might sound familiar.

  • Don’t trust anyone, especially men
  • Don’t trust anyone, especially women
  • Go it alone, you’re safer that way
  • Don’t show weakness or vulnerability
  • Don’t show power or mastery
  • Don’t feel sad, angry, ashamed or guilty
  • Don’t look too happy, people will worry
  • Don’t admit when you’re wrong
  • Don’t take the blame
  • Take ALL the blame
  • Always say you’re wrong, even when you’re not
  • Don’t say NO, people might not like you
  • Don’t say YES, people will take advantage of you
  • Keep it to yourself, nobody cares anyway
  • Don’t share what has hurt you, people will use it against you
  • Take care of everyone else before you take care of yourself
  • Don’t get support. Only wimps get support
  • Don’t let down your guard
  • Don’t let the rage out, you might hurt someone
  • Don’t let the grief out, you might never come back
  • Don’t let the power out, people might expect big things from you
  • Don’t let the brilliance show, people will hate you
  • Be better
  • Stop doing that
  • Keep it together
  • Put her before you
  • Don’t ask for what you want
  • Don’t risk looking like a fool
  • Don’t forgive them
  • Don’t ever forgive you

I can say with confidence that I have broken every one of these ‘Rules’ that I have had in my head for most of my life. I have done this by attending a men’s group.

You can too. You will be surprised by how powerful and courageous you really are.

Now the ‘other’ Rules:

These are the ‘Rules’ we use in Open Men and the commitment we make to you.

Groundrules

  • Confidentiality – What I say here is confidential. I will not share another man’s words or actions. I will only speak of my own experience and personal learnings. This goes a step beyond medical or legal confidentiality, to create a sense of safety for each man. There may be mandated reporters in attendance.
  • Punctuality – The group will begin on time and end on time. If I arrive late, I will not interrupt the flow of the group.
  • Ethical Relationships – This is not a business group. No Solicitations. If I need something, I can ask for it before or after the meeting. I can leave literature on the table.
  • Non-Violence – Violence can be physical, verbal or emotional. I acknowledge that my words and actions have an impact on those around me. I am responsible for my words and actions.
  • No Drugs or Alcohol – If I am high or have been drinking, I will tell the group. I accept the choice of the group in handling this.

Guidelines for Participation

  • Speak openly and truthfully, speak for yourself. Speak in “I” statements, not “we” or “you” statements.
  • Any man may pass at any time. Any man may STOP a process.
  • I am not here to give advice. If I want advice, I will ask for it specifically. I will ask permission before offering feedback.
  • I am responsible for taking care of myself. If I need something, I will ask for it.

Our Ethical Commitment

This Open Men’s Group is facilitated by members of the ManKind Project, or “MKP,” a 25 year old international not for profit education and training organization. Neither MKP nor this Open Men’s Group are affiliated with any religious practice or political party. We strive to be increasingly inclusive and culturally aware. Open Men’s Circle is not here to sell you anything; attendance is free and there are no obligations nor expectations, financial or otherwise, beyond the groundrules we’ve just mentioned.

The men of MKP have attended a 48 hour primary training called the New Warrior Training Adventure, or “the Training.” To attend the Training, a man needs to pay a fee to cover MKP’s costs to put on the Training. Some scholarship money is available, and a flexible payment process is used to help men of limited means. This Open Men’s Group and the men of MKP receive no financial benefit from you being here now, nor if you someday choose to attend the Training.

The members of MKP who offer this open men’s group do so because we believe in men and we care about our families, our communities and our planet. Every man in this Open Men’s Group is invited to participate fully in the group – to challenge himself. This group is intended to help men grow and meet the challenges of their lives with strength, skill, and peer support. This group is not a substitute for professional mental health services. If you are currently in the care of a Mental Health Professional, ask them if a peer support group could be beneficial for your treatment.

If you are interested in learning more about MKP or the Training after tonight’s group ends, you are invited to take the literature on the table or talk to MKP members. MKP members who are available to talk about these topics, please raise your hands now.

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That’s it. We’re not here to sell you anything, we’re not here to replace therapy.

We help men grow, because we believe the world needs grown up, mature, and powerful men.
Your family, your community, and the world benefits when you take an active role in your personal growth.

Our goal is to help you learn more about who you are and what you’re passionate about, and help you get more of it. And we want you to help us learn more about who we are as well. It’s always a two way street.

Open Men’s Group meets on the first and third Wednesday of every month from 6:30 – 9:00 PM in West Springfield, MA.

 

Our Taboos are Killing us

I read a great blog post today from the Sexademic – http://sexademic.wordpress.com/2010/03/17/screw-critical-thought-blame-women-feminism-or-men/

Here is the Response I wrote:

THANKS! The times they are a changin’ indeed.

Masculinity (and Femininity) need a reset. I get very tired of listening to men a) blame women rather than take responsibility for their happiness, unhappiness, satisfaction, political station, job, etc. b) say and do things which reinforce damaging, violent and emotionally immature stereotypes about men.

I also get very tired of women who either a) blame men rather than take responsibility for getting what they want or creating the relationships they want or b) let men off the hook for being immature and emotionally stunted with statements like ‘boys will be boys’ or c) say and do things that reinforce damaging, psychically violent and emotionally immature stereotypes about women.

It’s a dance that’s been playing for a few tens of thousands of years. You’d think with these huge masses of grey matter, the lizard brain would be a bit more in check.

AND I also feel very strongly that the fundamental mistake is one of denial. We have collectively created a culture of taboos (political correctness could be an example) in which there are whole areas of personality, actions, thoughts and feelings which have been put into a deep dark hole. AND surprise, surprise, these archetypal demons locked in ‘unbreakable’ chains manage to find a way to escape and show up in all kinds of damaging ways in the culture. Gonzo porn, domestic violence, sexualized children, violent misogyny, misandry and homophobia, hypersexuality, women whose first and primary concern is sexual acceptability, men whose first and primary concern is denial of ALL that could be considered feminine. Men are no longer consciously taught to be mature, because there are few men who understand what that maturity looks like, or how to teach it. The same is true of women. And the lot of us are mostly taught by media, which as you pointed out is mostly made, produced and marketed by men. (the same immature men who were never taught otherwise)

Want to break the denial? Create conscious places for men and women to safely explore the taboos, let the demons out of the cages in a safe and conscious way (this does NOT mean enacting them on one another!) and learn what they have to teach us. We’re already letting them out … we’re just making the wildly irresponsible choice to not analyze, process and explore these taboos consciously. When we come to a level of self-awareness about what we hide in our taboo closets, the taboos lose their psychic magnetism – freeing us ALL up to create masculinity and femininity that will support us toward wholeness rather than diminishing us toward gendered mud-flinging.

The good news is that there are more and more men and women waking up, doing their work cleaning out the closets and creating conscious and more emotionally responsible cultures and relationships. They are isolated pockets most of the time, but growing.

And if the predictors work … it will only take about 1% of the population waking up to change the whole game. I think that the huge amount of yelling, fear and panic about this topic might indicate that we’re close to breaking through. I hope so.

For men – I recommend the ManKind Project as a way to start doing the work of taking responsibility for our lives. Cut the shit man. Time to take responsibility for yourself.

The Dark Season – Open Men for November

It’s a tricky season eh? There is so much to be grateful for in my life. I see all the ways in which I am blessed and how my blessing can effect others. I rejoice in the renewed connections to family and friends. I celebrate the crisp air … all of this is true.

AND … we are entering the season when there are more suicides than at any other time of the year. A season in which millions of people use food and alcohol and material goods to disconnect from themselves and the people in their lives. A se    ason when the realities of scarcity of resources has lead so many of us to spend more than we have to ‘prove’ our love for our families. A season in which every day the amount of sun light decreases as we head to the winter solstice. A gray, wet, cold season.

Light and Shadow. That is what we deal with at Open Men. We deal with BOTH sides of the coin of life – not denying the reality of a man’s experience in his world. Not trying to push away or destroy the negative aspects of the personality but to MOVE with them, to integrate them so that your CHOICES about how you respond to the world can expand. Nothing is destroyed … only transformed.

The pain and suffering of life is real. We’re not going to deny it. We’re going to expand what we are capable of facing in the world and expand our options for responding with love and compassion in the face of pain – our own pain and the pain of others.

Tonight we will take some time to explore Gratitude – to recognize what we are grateful for – AND we will take some time to be honest about the blocks, the pain and the fear that is facing us on our paths as men in this world.

Show up. Get support. Embrace more of who you are.

West Springfield – Open Men’s Group

Springfield, MA
428 Men

Why Personal Mastery?To be the man you want to be takes ongoing effort and the support of a community.• What if there were a place to resolve internal conflicts, learn skill…

Next Meetup

Open Men’s Group – W.Springfield – Personal Mastery Workgrou…

Wednesday, Oct 16, 2019, 6:30 PM
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Extra Open Men’s Groups this Month!

How about this – the world needs you. Not a washed out, pale, shadowy version of who you are. Not a stuck, quiet, frustrated, depressed, angry and asleep version of yourself. The world needs the BIG YOU. The fully awake you. The you that is willing to take some risks to make the world, your relationships, and your dreams, shine the way you want them to.  Everything going pretty good these days? Awesome. Then the world needs the you that is ready to be even MORE alive, awake and empowered. The you that knows that growth is a never-ending journey. Are you ready to take the next step in your journey?

In three weeks a group of about 60 men will gather in North Oxford Massachusetts for a weekend training called the New Warrior Training Adventure. In 48 hours these men will have the opportunity to confront the darkest parts of who they are and face their fears. They will have the space to heal parts of their past that have held them back for years. They will have the chance to find within themselves a new kind of power to get the things done in their lives. They will find a connection and trust with other men that they have probably never experienced before.

They will have the opportunity to take a step up the ladder in their own personal evolution – no matter where they are – as a man and as a human being in the world. Every aspect of their lives will be affected.

After this weekend, the New Warrior Training Adventure, these men will be invited to join or form men’s groups. The Springfield Uprising is one such group. We have been meeting weekly for over two years. We help one another through mentoring, exploration, truth telling and building safe spaces to share our lives. This is the continuing work of our circle; to heal, to empower, to trust, to connect, to continue our personal evolution as men and as human beings. You are invited to participate in this evolution – and continue on YOUR path. This open men’s group is for all men.  This open men’s group is FREE. This group is not affiliated with any one spiritual practice, your beliefs are welcome.

We will be holding Open Men’s Circles for the next 3 weeks in a row – October 14th, October 21st, October 28th – from 7pm  to 9pm at 380 Union Street, West Springfield – (at A to Z Movers, look for the big trucks – enter the building on the ground floor under the “Auction Preview Sign”) – more info? Call Boysen 413 883 2462.

Hope to see you there.  You are welcome to bring a friend. I remember that I felt nervous when I attended my first men’s group. I didn’t believe that I would be accepted or welcomed. I didn’t believe that I would fit in. Maybe this is the first fear to confront?

To Learn More about the ManKind Project – the not-for-profit organization that presents the New Warrior Training – CLICK HERE – If you are interested in taking a big step in your life and you want to attend the NWTA happening in 3 weeks – call me – 413 883 2462.

Emotional Activism as a construct for societal transformation

I am re-posting an older article that still resonates with me.

In June of 2007, I was in Northampton, MA at a public screening of Byron Hurt’s HIP HOP Beyond Beats and Rhymes. If you haven’t seen this movie – I recomend it highly. Hurt has done a fantastic job of really opening the connections between rap, hyper-masculinity, violence, misogyny, sexism, homophobia and corrupt capitalism. The film is powerfully edited, smart, compelling. There were about 160 people in attendance at this Sunday night screening. Some very well recognized heavy-weights in the pro-feminist, anti-violence men’s movement were in attendance.  On the way home with the LadyK I tried to verbalize the deep sadness and frustration that I feel about the disconnection between what I do in my work with the ManKind Project and the work that is being done by powerful scholars “intellectual Heavyweights” (as Hurt said) on the front lines of the anti-violence men’s movement.

Continue reading “Emotional Activism as a construct for societal transformation”

Open Circles – July 15th and 22nd

We’re hosting an additional Circle this month – and hoping to expand to a circle every other week by the end of the summer. So what is this about? It’s about the totally responsible and mature choice to connect to a group of men to offer mentoring and be mentored. The most powerful, successful and brilliant men in the world have circles of advisers – people they trust to share their highs and lows with – people they work with to refine their ideas, make better choices, take risks.

Kings have courts. Presidents have cabinets. CEO’s have boards of advisers. Religious icons have disciples. What we provide is a space to learn deeply about yourself in the company of other men. To challenge yourself, to be recognized for the brilliance that you bring to your world, to get honest about what’s REALLY going on with you, to share in the passages of your life. We are confidants, friends, challengers, sounding boards – we are a band of brothers united by a desire to make ourselves – and the world – a better place. Many men are these days are isolated from one another and from themselves. Many of our relationships are shallow and don’t begin to honestly address the difficulties and triumphs in our lives. Open Men is about getting honest, bravely taking responsibility for your life and helping other men while you help yourself.

You are invited. Bring a friend.

Location

380 Union Street, Ground Floor
West Springfield, MA 01089

This is the business of one of the men in our group.

How to find us
“We park right by the big AtoZ Moving Trucks – look for the parking along the building.”

How I got involved in New Warrior stuff – the truth about the ManKind Project

A question from an old friend who I haven’t connected with in years.

So how’d you get involved with the New Warror stuff?

I’m curious about the program. I may check it out but as I explained to J***, while the underlying concepts certainly resonate for me, I’m very peculiar about (and easily distracted by) the language and vessel chosen to convey ideas. Sometimes the idea is meaningful, but the way it’s expressed raises my hackles, sounds off alarms, and I just can’t trust the messenger. And the message itself gets diluted in the process. Sometimes, regardless of the messenger, it takes me years to fully absorb a useful message and translate it into meaningful change.

This really got me thinking. Here’s what I came up with.

I did the NWTA in April 2004, a year after I left a very complicated and painful relationship that I was in for 7 1/2 years. I had known about it for years because my brothers and my Dad had done it.  I was on a good path. I was feeling positive about my life, I had been with the beautiful lady who is now my wife for about 6 months, we were doing really well, I was taking risks again, expanding my world, creating friendships. AND I was ready to look at the deeper stuff – to go beyond therapy, which had really helped me, into active participation in something bigger. I was aware of a part of myself that I was still holding back in my life. Some doorway that hadn’t been opened.

The paragraph about the concepts, ideas and the messenger – I get it. And there is some serious jargon to digest. I have become very conscious about this language, so I hope I don’t bludgeon you with it.

Maybe you’re over-thinking? This kind of intellectual analysis kept me locked in a box for 8 years. For me, it’s an avoidance technique. I can think myself out of doing anything – especially if it calls to me – because that means that I sense something I WANT, but I am afraid to reach out for it, afraid to screw it up. When I dismiss the message because of the way it was delivered, I cut myself off from the opportunity to actually come up with my own insights. I expect perfection. There is none.

The EXPERIENCE is what it’s about. The New Warrior Training Adventure is an initiation into a different way of relating to being a man. It’s about trusting yourself enough to let go of the rope and trusting other men to catch you and not hurt you. It’s about learning what you are capable of – the beautiful good and the horrible bad. It may raise your hackles because it runs so contrary to the Lupis Goitalonis (lone wolf) mentality that most men carry. What? you want me to trust you? F*ck that. You want me to stop thinking for a minute and FEEL? F*ck you. You want me to tell you what I am really about? F*ck off. Last time I did that I got the shit kicked out of me.

I over-analyzed the “intellectual framework” of the work as it was understood by a couple of men with their own understandings, beliefs and biases. (they didn’t have the book shelf that I had, or the degree that I have … blah blah).

I didn’t believe it could possibly be all that the men in my life claimed it was. I said no for 7 years. I argued that I was ‘on my own path’, and that I was learning ‘in other ways’. I read, I went to 12 step meetings, I did therapy with a feminist therapist, I led anti-violence workshops for college students, I sat in some men’s groups sponsored by the local men’s center (and though well intentioned, they never even broke the surface for me). I read all kinds of negative press about the ManKind Project and the ‘mytho-poetic men’s movement’. I argued that it was anti-feminist, that it was brain washing, that it was some kind of pyramid scheme, that it was like a cult. My brother J* just kept asking me to trust him, to trust that he would not do me harm. J* is a very smart man – and he is one of the most cynical people I know- and yet this changed his life.

I chose to do it despite my fears and arguments, because I saw the difference it made in my brothers’ lives and marriages – and the difference it made for their kids. They weren’t brainwashed; they still had their own peculiar (and sometimes ineffective) ways of being, but they were kinder and more open with their wives and children, they were more accountable for their actions, they talked about their feelings, they treated each other with a clear, clean respect. They reacted less and responded more. They started standing up for themselves when they needed to. They made better choices. Most of them no longer participate in MKP men’s groups, but the effects that their time in circles had on them are clear in all their lives. Their kids are growing up with self-confidence that comes from being seen and valued for who they are, from being listened to, from having their emotions accepted and affirmed. My brothers had all this goodness inside, MKP helped them do was open the door to it.

What Happened at my Weekend

It was the most powerful experience I had ever had to that point in my life. Parts of it were cheesy. Sometimes I was PISSED that they were ‘treating us’ that way. Parts I didn’t understand until much later. Sometimes I didn’t like the words that were being used. Feeling the power and care of 65 men who are not playing games, not bullshitting each other is life-altering. I have been sitting in MKP circles of men for 5 years now. And I keep getting more tools, keep deepening my ability to connect to people (everyone), I’ve stepped into leadership, handled the hard stuff, gotten accountable for what’s happening in my life. K* and I have honesty and connection that I haven’t ever experienced. There are some incredible, powerful, brilliant, passionate men out there doing their parts to make the world a better, safer, place for everyone. Many of them have different ideas and ‘frames’ for what this work is. Some I resonate with, others I don’t.

I emerged from the weekend saying … if only I had taken this risk then … I could have avoided hurting my ex-partner as I did, I could have avoided hurting myself for a lot of years. All the perfectly logical reasons I had for not going were actually based in fear of being seen for who I believed I was – broken, doomed to be alone, too afraid to live, a ‘bad’ man, somehow not worthy of being loved and appreciated.

So I understand the idea that the ‘vessel’ is important as a carrier of the message. And I would assert that the ‘vessel’ here is more important than the concepts that you are resonating with. Concepts are easy. You can get the concepts in a book, god knows I do. But you will never begin to approach the experience. There is no other vessel that compares to it.

The red flags are good, they will keep you self-aware, having a strong ego is good for this process. But can you take the next step and trust that you are strong enough to take care of yourself AND allow yourself to fully participate in the experience? The men who lead these weekends are experienced, sharp and dedicated to creating safety. Not to say that there aren’t f*ck-ups, there are, but there is always someone right there to step in. And most of all – there is safety. Emotional and Physical safety to do whatever it takes.

When you come out of it – there are men ready to help you process the other stuff that will inevitably bubble up. But it will be up to you whether you choose to reach out and keep working with it. My opinion is that being in a circle of men is the most responsible choice I can make if I am truly dedicated to making the world a safer place, because that is where I learn how to do it. Thinking that I want to help create a better world means little if I’m too afraid or disempowered to act or if I can’t even handle my own resentments against my neighbors, my wife, my boss. Activism is great! Speaking out is great! Movements implode when in-fighting destroys them. And the in-fighting is not about the concepts, it’s about the failure to process the underlying judgments, motivations, wounds and psychology of the individuals. One person with a poisonous lack of self-awareness can destroy an organization (or a nation!). And only a group of highly self-aware people with finely developed skills will be able to short circuit that destruction. MKP, for me, is about developing those skills.

Lots of men go on to do all sorts of other stuff. I know I have. There are lots of paths. But I have never spoken with a man who does not see how unique and powerful this experience was or how it contributed to making his own path more clear and vibrant – even if he hated the weekend. It gives many men the will and passion to go for their deepest dreams. It gives every man a sense of purpose (of his own creation) that he can go out and live in the world.

There is misogyny in MKP, and homophobia and ignorance and racism and arrogance and self-limiting tribal thinking and unconsciousness, but FAR LESS than I experience in most areas of my life. When that stuff shows up, there are men in MKP willing to stand up and confront it. We are actively confronting those harmful attitudes and beliefs in ourselves and each other, because we trust each other. We have the most self-aware ways of handling conflict that I have ever seen.

Some men who walk away from MKP are simply too attached to their rigid beliefs about difference to make any changes or stand as equals with men who challenge them. We are not a homogenous group. It’s not like being in a circle of just academics, or social activists or blue color workers, conservatives or liberals. Unquestioned beliefs, on both sides, will be questioned. In my opinion, we men can no longer afford to create segregated communities of ‘like-minded’ people. We have to do more than isolate ourselves in this time of global problems.

At a core level for me – it’s about escaping the nihilist belief that I’m alone. Because as a man among men – these men – I’m never alone. These men that I have shared this with – these are the men who will bury me – knowing everything about me and loving me deeply. They will comfort my children and my wife. There will be nothing left unsaid, because there was no fear to prevent me from saying it.

It’s an emotional bungie jump. Scary. Safe.

I’m on a Mission. What’s yours?

Male culture and the ManKind Project are evolving. We are entering another era and another possible tipping point in the culture. This time the energy of expansion is not coming from a reactionary stance about ‘Masculinity’ but rather from a deeply pragmatic understanding that in order to literally save ourselves, men need to deal with their disconnection in a healthy way and learn to get beyond our bullshit with each other – so that we can connect to all people with compassion and work together effectively. It’s about having the skills to sit in circles small and large, to tell the truth, be present and resolve conflicts.

Involvement in the ManKind Project means a few simple things. We share the common experience of a weekend initiation, we sit in men’s circles together and support each other to continue growing and changing, and we work to discover, refine and LIVE a mission in the world. Our missions are our personal responses to our own histories and the reality that we see in the world. Men choose all kinds of missions – with different scopes, strategies and visions.  A few examples happening recently – I have facilitated circles with (and for) all of these men. The energy that they have and the work that they continue to do in circles is inspiring.

  • Bill Baue launches Sea Change Radio – a weekly radio program about corporate responsibility, ecology and sustainability – airing on more than 20 stations and available on line at www.cchange.net – he is connected to another brother and his family who are about to launch a cross country tour exploring and reporting on new developments in green living and sustainability.
  • Mark Morey and a large group of MKP brothers and their families in southern VT and northern MA have connected to create community focused on cross generational mentoring, connecting to indigenous wisdom and caring for one another in and around Montague – looking at all aspects of their lives and the wider societal impacts (ifnaturallearning.com)
  • Chris Martenson’s ‘Crash Course’ about the crisis of money, ecology and society (www.chrismartenson.com) is getting national recognition and his information was presented at the just past international business meeting of MKP by Bill Kauth, one of the founders of MKP, so has now jumped cultural and geographic boundaries to reach the wider world. Chris was on WGBY a couple of weeks ago talking about his work and how community is the key to moving forward.
  • Chris Landry is one of the producers working on a documentary film to explore the work of Joanna Macy (www.thegreatturningfilm.org/) with Kristen Chamberlain – exploring what to do and how to approach our growing problems in the world
  • Steven Spitzer’s work with men in prison is expanding yearly – and is now being explored as a viable programming option for release programs throughout the state (www.jerichocircle.org)

This is just in New England – there are lots of other great examples happening in centers around the world. I am thrilled with this stuff.

The invitation is open for the April NWTA – we have about 10 spots left. You should act fast to become a part of this vibrant and vital community.

Next Open Men’s Circle – March 25th, 2009

Hey All – The next OPEN MEN’S Circle will be held on March 25th, 2009 from 7-9pm  in West Springfield, MA at the first floor offices of A to Z Movers – 380 Union Street, West Springfield, MA (right next to Charlies Diner, look for the Auction Preview sign above the door). Call 413 883 2462 for more information. If you have already attended the New Warrior Training Adventure – you are welcome to join us on any Wednesday evening!