man time

what is it about hanging out with the guys that helps reset life? what i mean is... every once in a while i need some "man time." whether it be poker, camping or disc golf... it's necessary. i've talked it over with andrea several times, and it's interesting to see the differences between hanging out with the girls and what guys do when they get together. while man time usually involves some form of ruggedness and or competitiveness... girl time often means going to a spa or going shopping or just going out to eat. there's nothing wrong with either of these... but the differences show me why time with the guys or girls is so important.

recently i went camping with dmitry. i hadn't realized how long it had been since i'd gone camping. have you ever done that thing where you list all your favorite activities and then you write the last time you did it? it usually ends up kind of a downer. well it had been way too long since i'd gone camping. and while our wives weren't pumped about us being gone for a whole weekend... they understood and we had a blast. there's just something about chopping wood, jumping in a cold-ass mountain lake and making fire (what i believe to be about as close to creating a life as a man can get... which interestingly still involves destruction) that makes me feel like a man. i think too many of us work in cubicle offices doing work that doesn't stimulate our brains like it should and we just need to get out and rough it every once in awhile and get back to our raw self.

i thought about this recently because i'd heard some guy on t-v saying men were becoming more feminine due to the hormones being injected into livestock. i don't know enough to weigh in on that... but i do see more and more guys in our society becoming too passive and sensitive. i noticed a huge difference when i was 16 in boy scouts. we had a shift in leadership with our scout masters being 10 years younger than the previous ones. they were so worried about their young boys that we stopped camping or doing anything resembling the scouts i loved.

there are just some weird movements in our culture that began with a good intention but have gone too far now. i could probably write a whole blog about how society has been destroying and belittling the career of stay-at-home-moms... the most noble career in my eyes... but i'll leave that for another day.