Daily Doings at the Line of Death Bar & Grill

Yesterday, we went shopping at the Mall at Fairfield Commons, in Beavercreek. I try to avoid shopping at malls because there just isn't a lot of stuff there that interests me. Okay, there are a few clothing stores there that I like -- Eddie Bauer, Abercrombie & Fitch, Structure, American Eagle Outfitters -- but I didn't go clothes shopping. I needed to get next year's calendar pages at the Franklin Covey store. My wife wanted to go to a few stores as well, so we put Maria's car seat in the stroller and did one lap of the mall. We came out with a pair of shoes for Rebecca, clothes for Maria, and some Disney DVDs for us -- Schoolhouse Rock, Beauty and the Beast, and Snow White. (Oh yeah...and some Godiva truffles for Rebecca since it was Sweetest Day.) That night, instead of going out for dinner, I went to the Dorothy Lane Market and brought home some yummy heat-and-serve food -- herb-roasted beef tenderloin, green beans almondine, grilled portabella mushrooms, and twice-baked potatoes.

Today, I cleaned out the refrigerator and inventoried its contents, one shelf at a time. I now have a spreadsheet that lists what I have in the fridge, and where it is. In some cases, I know when I first put it in there. I understand that future models will have built-in computers. If they add a wand or built-in barcode reader, that would be perfect -- the fridge can take and keep the inventory for me. I also have a cleaner fridge, since I got rid of stuff that was no longer appetizing or edible. Meanwhile, my wife was watching Trading Spaces and complained about the designer who spray-painted a couch pink, left it outside to dry and became ruined because it rained that night. What was the designer thinking?

That's quite a far cry from what I did this weekend five years ago.

I was at a camp near Bedford, Indiana, participating in the New Warrior Training Adventure, a weekend-long training sponsored by the Mankind Project. I had been active in a local mens' group for three years, and had heard about this training through some of the men in the group. I had been thinking about doing this training for a while, and when another man I befriended in the group went through it in August of that year, I knew I was ready to take this next step.

As cliched as it sounds, what I learned and did on this weekend has truly changed my life for the better. It taught me more about myself, and what being a man is about, than I could ever learn from either a college classroom, a textbook, a typical weekend seminar, or from the years I was in a college fraternity.

In a way, I got to take my own "hero's journey" that weekend. This ancient story is told many times in science fiction and fantasy, in different ways and using different characters -- Frodo Baggins, Luke Skywalker, John Sheridan, or Paul Atreides. Many people I know are content to just sit back and read about their adventures (or view them). I had a chance to experience one for myself, and my life is better off because of it.

Thanks to the help and guidance of many other men who had previously been through the training, I was able to take a good, hard look at myself and my life -- what has worked for me in the past, what didn't work for me, why they didn't work, and what I needed to change in order for those things to work. I learned who I am and what I want, in a powerful, lasting way. And I learned how to listen to the voice of my heart again, which had been repressed the past several years.

Each man's experience during the weekend is unique and personal, as it draws on each man's previous experiences in life. If I were to tell you the details, it would be like telling you about a movie that I saw but you haven't seen. Why should I spoil it for you or anyone else? I will also not recommend this training lightly -- in order to get the most out of it, men who are interested should be ready to look deeply within themselves and have a genuine interest in personal growth.

I've also got to meet many other men who have gone through the same weekend, and develop friendships with them.

More information -- dates, locations, and costs -- about this program for men only is available at the Mankind Project web site, at http://www.mkp.org/.

Women are waiting too! There is a similar program for women only, called Woman Within. More information about this training for women is at the Woman Within web site, at http://www.womanwithin.org/.