by Mike Rosen
I enjoy writing these blog posts, it’s a very mindful and deliberate act for me. How can I express something meaningful and constructive, insightful enough to (hopefully) warrant the time you took to read it, is engaging, perhaps funny? I try to be concise and thorough, efficient and clear, serious and light-hearted, all in one sentence if all cylinders are firing. Like much, it’s a practice and I enjoy the discipline attached to it. Slow down, right lane, right? That said, there are times when someone else, in this case a professional who earns a living writing, shares something that makes a clear, salient point in a way I can only aspire to. More on that soon.
However long your relationship with the MenLiving universe–brand new, or maybe a cagey, haggard, and grizzled veteran like Ed Gudas, or anywhere in between–you may have heard or seen the Five Suggestions for living fully. Live Consciously, Candidly, Curiously, Emotionally, and Intentionally. These have been a part of the ML world for a few years now and you may have seen profiles of Men Living members where they’re asked which (if any) of those five suggestions resonate closely or with which they identify closest. I find the answers interesting. The responses are as varied and curious as each of the men drawn to MenLiving. I judge the addition of the 5 Suggestions alongside our Vision and Mission have helped succinctly clarify what MenLiving is about.
Michael Easter is an author I enjoy. He’s a Professor at UNLV, the former Editor in Chief of Men’s Health magazine, wrote the books Scarcity Brain, The Comfort Crisis, and he writes a blog called The 2%. The 2% refers to the percentage of people who will choose to take the stairs vs an elevator when given a choice. I like the way he writes, his approach to life, and his tagline, some derivative of “Have fun, don’t die.” Perhaps his suggestion resonates as it’s very similar to the words I offer my boys whenever they leave the house “Don’t increase the population, don’t decrease the population, and please lock the front door. I love you!” Pretty much covers it all, right?
Michael Easter’s post this week is about Living Authentically. At first I thought “Oh! That’s one of the 5 ML Suggestions!” It isn’t and as I read and reread his post, which is here–Living Authentically–please take the time to read it, it’s straight-forward, clear, concise, and I don’t have the skill to provide an effective synopsis. With some reflection, it occurred to me that living authentically might be the center of a pentagon or a star–the byproduct or outcome or the confluence of a life informed by the conscious practice of the other 5 MenLiving suggestions. Is living authentically separate from the other 5? Is it less a star and more a Venn diagram with Authentically at the center? I invite you to read his post, reflect, and let me know what you think in the Comments below.
Also, try not to increase the population today and don’t decrease it either…
About Mike Rosen
Mike has been part of MenLiving since the first 2012 meeting in Todd’s living room and helps lead the weekly Separation/Divorce support calls. He teaches 4th Grade, loves to move (run, bike, yoga, repeat.), struggles to fully comprehend the size of our solar system, is happiest when he’s laughing with his family, and is an unapologetic fan of Huey Lewis and the News. As a divorced father of 3 young men, Jack(19), Keil and Sam (twin 17yr olds), a large portion of his abundance is found sharing a blended family with Kelly and her children, Evan(19) and Ella(16). He lives in LaGrange, IL, a Chicago suburb.
