For masculine identifying folks, what were the things you did (or had happen to you) that you feel helped you transition into adulthood and find fulfilling community?
Statistics suggest that a large number of men feel isolated, unvalued by society, and dysfunctional, but it’s not 100%.
Becoming a father at 28, after realising that is what I want from life; going deeper into the realm of love, wanting to live out the unconditional, unfaltering love for my own offspring. Finding the perfect person to go down that rabbit hole with, getting married, and less than a year later we have our first child.
It was all so easy and natural, made manifest by two people sharing this simple dream. A solid foundation was cast, I got to see firsthand that I can do this just as good as I hoped.
Something also happened before in my mid-20s. I was on a bit of a blue streak. Ended up taking an introductory course to zen sitting meditation. Two sessions was enough. Realised there’s a photocopier in my head that spews out thoughts, some of them ugly. I couldn’t turn it off, but I could refrain from reading the papers. Found inner peace right there and it has stuck.