Learning How to Self-Parent

For a couple years in my mid thirties, I thought I had it all – everything that I understood to mean success, accomplishment, and external happiness. Lots of things looked good on the outside: I was a junior partner at a growing engineering firm and we had a nice house in a great neighborhood. I…

Benefits of Wim Hof Breathing: For Grown-Ups and Kids!

If you’ve heard of Wim Hof you may be familiar with the incredible records set by this 61-year-old Dutch athlete known as “The Iceman.” He’s run a half marathon above the Arctic Circle, barefoot only wearing shorts. He’s climbed the highest mountains in the world in extreme cold – again, wearing only shorts. He’s run…

Your Ultimate West Texas Road Trip Itinerary: From Marfa to Marathon and More

Note: Two of the three trips to West Texas that informed this article were during August/September 2020. West Texas is an area that is very susceptible to hospital overwhelm. It’s incredibly important to check COVID-19 case numbers and recommended travel guidelines if considering coming to the area. If unsure, we recommend you wait to see…

Is There Even Such a Thing as Men’s Intuition?

Post by Markus Hi, my name’s Markus and I’m a human – specifically, a middle-class white American straight male thirty-something raised in a large city in the Bible Belt.  By reading those words you probably have some idea of the perspective that’s colored much of my experience into adult life – socioeconomic privilege, American male…

Go Make Mistakes – They’re the Patina of Life!

Post by Markus To quote one of the literary greats, author Michael Bond: “Things are always happening to me. I’m that sort of bear” – from A Bear Called Paddington.  Paddington knew what kind of bear he was – the kind who has interesting things happen to him on the reg.  When you’re the kind…

This Didn’t Happen TO Me, It Happened FOR Me

Post Written by Markus When I was in middle school, my family of origin broke apart. I don’t know the specific reasons although I can speculate – but really that doesn’t matter much to me now. It was a long process that from what I can tell began a few years earlier when I was…

The Magic of Prayer

Post Written by Markus Prayer has meant different things to me across my life.  From a comforting evening ritual with parents, to a “boring” experience at plenty of conservative churches, to an inspiring and raw experience at some tiny churches, to a very unpleasant and disingenuous experience at some big flashy churches, to a desperate…

The ManKind Project’s NWTA Weekend

Post Written by Markus On a Monday afternoon last September, Lilly sent me a text: “Hey, I found this weekend men’s retreat that sounds interesting, would you consider going?”  I was on a huge deadline push at work that day and I read the text quickly before replying “Sure, thank you.” Lilly had heard of…