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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. The next New England Legacy Discovery Weekend will take place from May 30th to June 1st, 2008, at the Clara Barton Center in North Oxford, Massachusetts.
The Legacy Discovery 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, having been both a participant, and one of the program’s leaders. 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
- Single parents account for 27 percent of family households with children under 18
- The number of single mothers increased from three million to 10 million between
1970 and 2000 - Nearly half of all marriages end in divorce
National Survey of America’s Families
- 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
- One in two children will live in a single-parent family at some point in childhood
- 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
For registration and logistical information for the upcoming New England Legacy Discovery, go to the New England Legacy Discovery website at http://www.nelegacydiscovery.org/.
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Dear Erek,
Well said, the culture of the “mature masculine” has been lost in modern America, it can be found again!
John M.
Erek
My belief is that for any transformational work to be effective it needs both a profound foundation of wisdom and powerful tools to be utilized in service to that wisdom. I did Legacy Discovery in 2003 becasue my son asked me to. I didn’t intend to ‘get’ something important. I was supporting my son. The unintended gift I received was clarity, for the first time, around my life’s purpose, something that has evolved since then but not changed in its essence. Further, I gained this insight working with other men - something that, heretofore, would have seemed inconceivable. I never understood the potency of a circle of men zeroing in support of my ‘reason for being on this earth’, to help me both develop and then articulate it. If someone had told me what I would get from Legacy Discovery before I actually did it, I might not have believed them or had the courage to proceed. I am eternally grateful to my son for leading the way. Thanks for offering this forum. I’m still on the path, to this day.
Rick H.
Erek,
Thanks for posting this! Another thing we try to do in LD is encourage men in their personal spiritual path, in whatever tradition they are from.
Jeff
I too have taken Legacy Discovery (the LD), and got a huge amount of growth out of it, most notably that I finally realized what my life purpose is. And the amazing thing was that my burning desire to “bring joy into the lives of all the people that I touch” was right there in front of my eyes all along, I just had way too much “other crap” in my way that was preventing me from seeing it. The LD brought me the simplicity that I was searching, and my life has been A LOT less complicated ever since.
Contact me if you would like to talk further about the LD.
Because of the LD I attended in 2003, I have a clear focus on the direction and purpose my life is to travel. Also, I learned and I’m continuing to learning on how to be a supportive rock for my wife and effective member in our circles of influence.
Hej Erek,
Writing about LD on your blog is a great way to tell men about this wonderful program that will help to make them powerful leaders and gentle, loving men with a fulfilling life.
Mike