A close friend of mine recently sent me a link to the You Tube video of Carole King performing ‘You’ve Got a Friend’ in Hyde Park. Watching this (which I really liked) made me think of the words of another favourite song: ‘Lean on Me’ by Bill Withers:
“Lean on me, when you’re not strong
And I’ll be your friend
I’ll help you carry on
For it won’t be long
‘Til I’m gonna need
Somebody to lean on”
What does it mean to be a man in today’s society? The age-old ‘nature versus nurture’ debate rages on, as does to what extent we all can (or want to) overcome any of the predisposition or (pre-)programming that exists from either source. Some of what’s out there may be generalisation but, even then, I quite often find ‘nuggets’ that might hold true. Continue reading “Men and Masculinity”
A friend put me onto this TED talk by Brené Brown a while ago. Since then I’ve shared it with lots of other people, watched other videos of hers on You Tube (more on vulnerability plus shame and resilience), and read some of her books: ‘Daring Greatly’ and ‘Rising Strong’.
It’s an inspiring talk. Amongst other things, she talks about the importance of human connection and that it won’t happen unless we approach it wholeheartedly, with the courage to risk making ourselves vulnerable to others. Continue reading “The Power of Vulnerability”
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