Happy International Men’s Day, dear Brothers across the whole world! I’m happy today to see that November 19 is finally starting to gain some traction as a symbolic day of celebration for and of men.

Posts celebrating the day have flooded across my Facebook feed today, and that is truly heartwarming.

We men are not so used to being celebrated.

Sure, individual men may be lauded for crushing it in sports, music, business etc, but as a group, we are definitely nowhere near as popular as we used to be.

As we turned the empowerment of women into our culture’s most central project over the last 50+ years, we poured enormous resources into understanding women.

This was obviously very positive.

Yet, as a culture, we still know *so little* about men.

And precisely because we have spent so little resources understanding the male experience at depth, our politics and cultural narratives around men are based on frightening levels of ignorance.

Now, we all need to share the responsibility for this. As men, so many of us work overtime to hide from ourselves and what lives inside of us.

Here at Reclaim your Inner Throne, however, we have delved deeper into the male experience than most others for a full six years now.

And here’s a little secret: You Men are unexplored treasure-troves.

Many of you wouldn’t even believe what I’ve seen! (you can get a little taste of it by watching a Celebration Call though. This is where the men share their stories from their Reclaim your Inner Throne experience. Here’s the one for Round #12)

 

 

The secret heart of men is so tender, so raw, so fiercely powerful, that a culture will wither and die without it.

And so make no mistake – the domestication of our gender is a blight upon humanity. The desperate attempts men often make to castrate themselves sufficiently to not be seen as dangerous are both ugly and misguided.

We must claim our dark side, and realize that there is great potential for destruction in us. And precisely because we acknowledge how close our potential for destruction is, we dedicate ourselves to building a better world with every fibre of our being.

This November 19, may we not only celebrate men, but the women who stand and love with us.

May we not only celebrate men, but the worlds we will still create.

May we not only celebrate men, but the incredible children we have fathered and will father.

May we not only celebrate men, but the way we will all come together to ensure that the future of humanity is bright indeed.

Let there be no mistake, the world needs you, Brother.

I know it’s hard for you to believe this at times, but it is a truth from which you can no longer hide.

We live in precarious times, and therefore, may this day of celebration bring you the affirmation of your power and beauty required to take yourself seriously enough to STEP FORTH and make a difference.

This is the destiny of every man.

This is why we are here.

And that makes us goddamned awesome.

Happy International Men’s Day.

With Eyes for my Brother’s Greatness,
Eivind Figenschau Skjellum
Reclaim your Inner Throne Founder