Trying New Things...
Last week Dave and I did something we’ve never done before - we co-facilitated a workshop about the sacred masculine and sacred feminine with 3 women. Two of the other women we had only just met. We went out of our comfort zone, out of what felt safe and took a leap of faith.
There were a few things that drove me to leave my comfort zone. I’d say the first were curiosity and wonder. This was something new and different and while the reality that I didn’t know how it would go made me a little nervous, the desire to find out what would happen propelled me forward.
The novelty felt exciting. Sitting in circle with men is beautiful. Every experience is different and really powerful shifts happen. Holding space for and facilitating experiences for men is something I know I’m good at. I’m someone who seeks novelty, it’s built into my personality to desire adventure, this felt like an adventure.
Finally there was a sense of purpose. I’m well aware that right now in our society we really need safe well-held spaces where men and women can connect and explore the space between us. Where we can better understand the rifts, and build on the connection that already exists. It felt important and purposeful to do this. It felt values and mission aligned. And it felt like I was being called into it.
Stepping out of my comfort zone was well worth it. The workshop was really wonderful. Hearing from women and men together about what their experiences of what healthy and unhealthy masculine and feminine energies look like and feel like to them was interesting. But more than just interesting, it told a shared story of pain and contraction on the unhealthy end of the spectrum, and of power, strength, and beauty on the healthy end of spectrum.
Seeing people embody and move these qualities shifted something in me. It brought me more into contact with more of myself somehow. And it confirmed and affirmed that both the masculine and feminine, and the healthy and unbalanced expressions exist in all of us.
Trying something new lit something up in us. Like a spark, it brought a new energy and showed us the importance not just of men’s work, but of creating and participating in intentional heart-centered co-ed spaces. It was also a reminder that taking calculated risks opens us up to more Life and to new possibilities.
Dave and I have gotten good at flexing the courage to try something new. That’s how this whole Council of Fathers things started - we saw the need for support for dads, saw that no one else was stepping up to fill the gap, and gave it a go. We got meaningful and encouraging feedback and kept going. When one of us had doubts, we’d hold those doubts together. When we got confused or worried that something wouldn’t work, we’d put one foot in front of the other and see what happened.
We’ve learned to lean into curiosity, wonder, a sense of adventure, and meaning and purpose quite a bit over the years.
When things pique your curiosity, is that enough to propel you to try something that’s outside of your comfort zone? Or is the inertia of how things are and have been too strong.
Most dads I talk to know something needs to shift. They just haven’t found the right container.
Fathering from the Heart is one of our attempts at creating an experience that will evoke enough curiosity, novelty, sense of adventure, and meaning and purpose to come to the edges of your comfort zone. To try something new. To meet new people. To open to novel experiences. But to do all those things in safety, with love and gentleness, and with a lot of care.
You can learn more about Fathering from the Heart here:
You can also schedule a discovery call to have a conversation to find out if it’s genuinely the right fit at the right time.
We start in September, but it’s not too early to enroll yourself into a new experience that will bring you into more fully into yourself as a father.
With an open-heart,
Noah