At the forefront of this mentorship is a deep reconnect with the natural world. As a culture, we see the Earth as separate from us, as a “natural resource” to be used in ways that are often exploitative and destructive.

A mature human knows the Earth to be Us. An extension of our bodies. Intertwined in every cell of our existence. We go to the waters to heal. The forests to find our breath. The deserts to expand and deepen.

As boys, we are at home in nature, but often aren’t given the freedom to immerse into our wildness. We inhabit a hyper safety-conscious society that sees wild nature as dangerous, and so we retreat to our controlled habitat. 

But what impact does this denial of wildness– of wilderness– have upon our psyche, our body, our spirit?

This time is a pivotal crossroads. More and more, as our existence becomes digital, our connection to ourselves– through nature– recedes from view.

We are left with a nagging anxiety from which many of us can’t track the origin.

The path to Wholeness is through Nature. The path to Ourselves– Our Deepest Self– arrives out of intimacy with the wild unknown. 

Most of our time together will be spent outdoors. We will prepare ourselves for this. There won’t be any technology to interfere with this connection. 

The vitality that arrives out of this is immeasurable.

We are nothing without Community. Communion with one another– with all beings– gives us our ability to know ourselves and the gifts we have to offer.

Community– real community– is defined by interdependent relationships. Interdependence means a mutual benefit– what I have to offer benefits you, just as what you offer benefits “me”.

The community we create here is essential for the boys’ development into mature adulthood. Having a place and “a tribe” we can count on, that will keep us accountable, is to be self-assured on this Earth.

And community is hard. It requires tough conversations. Vulnerability. Real, raw looks in the mirror. Grief. Loss. We lose ourselves in the expansion into a larger Self.

The structure of this program (as a 9 month mentorship) is designed to give us time to weave the interconnections of community together. This will become a tight group, and hopefully one that will endure for these boys, long after our time together ceases.

Ultimately, the final two pillars arrive out of the pillars of Nature and Community. The aim of the mentorship is for Self Realization and Transformation. To nurture a healthy transition into the next stage of our lives. 

The only way to leave the shore of our childhood and paddle the waters of adolescence successfully, is through deep self exploration. 

This happens experientially; not conceptually. It’s helpful to read about this journey, so that you know the journey exists, and that others have traversed it, but it only happens by doing it.

We must go deep inside of us to find out who we are. As nice as it would be, this doesn’t happen through comfort. We learn about ourselves most through hardship. Through challenges. We must walk the edge of catastrophe so that we may know just how capable you are.

This doesn’t mean we will put your boys in harm's way. To the contrary. We will work to dissolve the fears that hold us back from the deeper love residing within.

Everything we do will have the intention of supporting the specific stage of development of each person. The boys won’t be carried beyond their means, but they will be invited to explore their edges. 

Through this, they will become fully aware of Who They Are.

Which leads us to…

We are here, on this Earth, in Human form– to discover our purpose. 

We each are imprinted with specific gifts (and challenges) to serve the community of life through beauty, love and harmony. 

As men, it is our responsibility to ensure our orientation to “doing” serves in this way. That our desire to shape, to literally (penetrate) life, is emboldened by the higher virtues that guide our way.

This is what is described with the term toxic masculinity: immature manhood, divorced from the feminine, destroying; not healing. Essentially toxic masculinity is simply prolonged adolescence. Men who never grew up to understand who they are and the implications that destructive behavior has on themselves through outwardly “othering”.

Learning one’s purpose isn’t a static pursuit, it is a relational inquiry. The skills we develop in discovering our purpose is a path we will commit to as a lifestyle of values-based self inquiry.