There are two physical genders, but energy exists on a spectrum. We all contain masculine and feminine energies. We’re born with a certain balance. This balance is altered over time as trauma and healing minimize and maximize our potential, respectively.
Males contain more masculine and females contain more feminine, generally. I’ll mansplain here that this does not deny the fact that some females have higher masculines than some males, and vice versa. This is a nuanced conversation, jump out now if you are uncomfortable with generalizations.
I’m a male with a high feminine energy (some would say a high masculine as well, both due to my healing journey). I am very comfortable with my feminine traits. I became a widower six years ago and had to cultivate that energy to thrive as a single parent.
I also recognize where I lack work to do better.
Leadership is a masculine trait. Compassion is a feminine trait. The best leaders access their compassionate energy to understand those they are leading. Effectively compassionate people use leadership to direct action most productively (conscientiousness). This is the practical application of the masculine/feminine balance.
Leadership in humans has little to do with physical strength. Yes, it is a factor in male hierarchies, but not dominant in leadership roles (e.g., professional sports coaches). If the world was run by the physically strongest men, then evolution would have favored this trait and humans would be getting bigger and stronger. Instead, we see our species growing in head size and shrinking in body mass. Look at the men around you. Look at CEOs and politicians.
I hope that by using the feminine/masculine energy paradigm, we can see that it is critical that we recognize those energy balances in ourselves and honor them in others.
The Narrative Shifts
I’m only halfway through this interview with former CDC Chief Dr. Robert Redfield, but there are so many bombs dropped, it’s hard to believe this isn’t a bigger story right now.
Watch for:
1. There was never any evidence for the wet market hypothesis, but there was early evidence for the lab leak hypothesis.
2. Fauci’s focus was protecting “Science.” Redfield uses the phrase “lack of transparency” as a euphemism for “lying.”
3. Fauci influenced the change in the definition of “gain of function research” to get around Obama’s ban on such research.
4. The definition of vaccine was changed to fit a narrative.
5. Redfield disagreed with vaccine mandates.
There’s more, but I wish this doctor had been more vocal during the Lockdowns. Normalizing the point of view many of us had in 2020 is small solace. Cuomo and Redfield exhibit a minimal level of bravery in discussing these ideas in 2024.
New Killer Mike Fan Here
I heard this guy was a trouble maker, so I thought I’d give him a listen. I really like his perspective and it’s the first time I’ve really enjoyed new hip-hop in a long while.
Sunday Shootin’
Chill Day?
Isaac started his Saturday with Junior Rifle Club then jiu-jitsu training at Elevated Studios.
Westen started his day as an assistant instructor at Elevated then spent six hours at summer camp aide training with Delaware Nature Society.
Kristen began a massive mural at By Her Hand Tattoos, I helped with that and trained jiu-jitsu, and we both carted the boys around to and from their activities.
By late afternoon, we were all toast.
How Did I Approach Homeschooling Kindergarten?
My words to my wife were approximately, “If I can’t teach numbers, letter, and colors, you can fire me and we’ll send him to first grade next year.”
We planned to commit to a year and then reevaluate.
We were questioning our decision within two weeks. Then again a month later, then six weeks…the horizon kept growing as we made mistakes and found our way. Eventually we determined that this was the only path for our family. We’ve now been home educating for a full ten years.
It’s a remarkable, difficult, and wholly worthwhile journey.
A Microdose of Black Pill
I’m a fundamentally optimistic person. I’ve had a lot ton of harrowing events turn out to be benefits and I’ve listened to a ton of doomsayers who turn out to be wrong.
Several interactions with young people have got me slightly pessimistic about the direction of our culture (hold on for the silver lining, I cannot help myself).
A few months ago I was at a bookstore looking for material by Carl Jung. I was unsure if he would be in Philosophy, Psychology, or Religious Studies. When I asked an employee, he had no idea who I was talking about. He wasn’t a kid, certainly well enough into his 20s to have heard the name of the second most famous psychologist of the 20th century, yet he struggled to understand the mere spelling of the name.
I wrote this off at the time. I’m a weirdo and I know Jung was largely ignored for Freud in my schooling. I thought he was experiencing a resurgence in popularity, but what do I know of modern trends?
A couple months later I was at a library and my son was interested in reading The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka. Libraries sometimes separate Literature, Fiction, and Paperback Fiction in ways that I don’t understand, so I inquired at the reference desk. Again I was met with ignorance. Neither the title nor the author seemed familiar to the employee.
Yesterday, I was looking for books by and about Desmond Tutu at another library. This time, a young lady at reference didn’t seem to recognize that I was saying a name, answering, “Oh, what’s that?”
I’ll grant that I’m not familiar with his work, but I knew the name and his fight for equality in South Africa.
I don’t expect most people to be aware of these important figures, but the employees of book stores and libraries should have a foundational education when it comes to general literature.
This is one of my problems with the “Banned Book” craze. When an institution decides to use one book, many others must be excluded. Scarcity of space, time, and resources requires choices.
Our educational institutions are excluding deep, important texts. Without knowledge of the texts that have shaped our civilization, we become ignorant of ourselves.
Here’s the good news. These institutions are crumbling under their own incompetence. People are asking, “Why didn’t I learn that?” Independent thought and action is on the rise. Through home education, students can forge their own paths and avoid the mind numbing propaganda of a failing empire.
The School Scam
Just a reminder that we’re all pretending that our governing institutions are buttressed by rules.
The Law SHALL NOT Depart Out of Thy Mouth
Joshua 1:8 KJV — This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
I’ve spotted a problem in a couple other translations.
The New Living Translation omits the prescription against speaking the Law.
The New International Version and the Bible in Basic English give the opposite direction.
I’m open about my faith and constantly sharing it. I’m more careful about the prescriptions. I use Jesus as my guiding light because He came to fulfill the Law and directed His followers thusly:
Mark 12:29-31 KJV — And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
The weight of these commandments is why we must spend more time meditating than speaking. Love is easy to feel, it is harder to enact.
That’s why I try to start each day here.
I breathe deeply, exhale, and hold as I gaze at the rising sun. I thank God for all the things in my life and ask for guidance. I do so with a loving heart and pray for the wisdom to love my neighbor as I love myself.
A Record
I’m tidying up long overdo piles and found a wealth of family memories.
