This article posted on DaddyApproves.com August 8, 2012:
First rule of Fight Club: We don’t talk about Fight Club.
True for Brad Pitt and Edward Norton in this great flick. Not so true in the case of our manhood experience itself.
Guys aren’t known for effectively articulating their experience as a man. The way we grunt and growl about insecurities, relationships, and fears is almost a step back in time to our neanderthal ancestry.
We are the Great Internalizers when it comes to emotional anything.
Boiling, bubbling, churning, rehearsing, contemplating, capitulating, brooding, musing, doubting, defending, rationalizing… men are the immobilizers of self. Like the main character of Fight Club, I have created false realities in my mind when emotions lack external processing or conversation.
On the other side of that equation is the fella that talks too much: the wuss, the whiner, the complainer, and the master of “bitch and moan”. That’s the guy no man wants to be… I’ve been that guy too.
But there IS a balance.
Finding someone safe enough to share your junk, keeping you accountable like a mentor, counselor, pastor or close friend… these people help unleash the critically pent-up rage. I know it’s helped me immensely.
In my life’s challenges, the freedom to talk, the liberty to express my internal combustion is incredibly cathartic. Not only do I get things off my chest, but I usually learn powerful lessons about myself in the process – even just listening to my own words come out of my mouth.
The first rule of Manhood: Talk about manhood… just not to everyone.
Is there anyone you feel safe enough to talk to about your junk?
What would you learn about yourself if you had someone to talk to?
