The New England Legacy Discovery, May 18-20, 2007

A few weeks ago, in the Carnival of Powerful Living, I mentioned the upcoming New England Legacy Discovery on May 18, 19, and 20 in Peterborough, NH. The Legacy Discovery is a three day event for men that explores and celebrates the ability to operate in life from a mature masculine perspective. It was created by Men’s Divisions International, a nonprofit men’s organization committed to sustaining a place where men can discover, learn and teach other men how to be the man they have always wanted to be.

I’m personally connected to this program, both as a past participant, and as one of the leaders of this upcoming event. I’m blogging about it because I think it’s vitally important to our society that men have a place to gather and learn from one another. All throughout history, men have gathered in this way to teach and to learn about being men. Now, for some reason, these opportunities are few and far between. At this point in the evolution of our society, men are separate from each other. We’re isolated and alone as men, in a way that we’ve never been before. We’ve forgotten how to look out for one another and help each other succeed, and there have been consequences.

Consider the following statistics:

US Census Bureau

1. Single parents account for 27 percent of family households with children under 18
2. The number of single mothers increased from three million to 10 million between
   1970 and 2000
3. Nearly half of all marriages end in divorce

National Survey of America’s Families

1. Between 1978 and 1996, the number of babies born to unmarried women per year quadrupled from 500,000 to more than two million

State of America’s Children Yearbook 2000, Children’s Defense Fund

1. One in two children will live in a single-parent family at some point in childhood
2. One in three children is born to unmarried parents

While I believe that these statistics are almost certainly the result of a confluence of variables too numerous to name or understand, I feel strongly that the current state of masculinity in our culture has had something to do with this alarming trend. In my observation, men in our culture are not often called or pushed to develop the mature masculine attributes that would serve their families, their relationships, and their life’s purpose. Historically, it has been the job of men to teach each other to develop these attributes, through purposeful, mature masculine relationships in a community of men.

The New England Legacy Discovery, and Men’s Divisions International, are places where men can receive wisdom and training from a community of other men who hold themselves responsible for creating a world of honor, selflessness, integrity, and courage. These communities are actively engaged in helping men acquire the skills, attributes, and lessons they need to be successful, purposeful, men.

Please take a minute to find out more about these organizations, pass this information along to anyone who you think it could benefit, and by all means, feel free to contact me for more information: erek@vervecoaching.com

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