<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Before The Mens' Retreat<div><br></div><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">She asks: “What is it?”</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">And I say: “100 men naked in the woods.”</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">She wrinkles her nose and says: “No clothes?”</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">And I say: “Sometimes.”</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">And she says: “What do you do?”</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">I say: First we removed the coat of corporate soldier, of worker</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">bee, of boss, of coach, of business owner.</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">Then we pull off the jacket of marriage.</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">Toss aside the shoes of parenthood.</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">The umbrella of son.</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">The backpack of friend.</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">The helmet of hero, savior, tough guy.</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">We pull from our pockets the mantle of lady’s man, lover,</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">slayer of the weaker sex.</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">We check in our charm and toss away the pants of romance.</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">All the roles and expectations we carry about in our</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">lives, we leave behind like a pile of clothes on the floor.”</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">She says: “On the floor? That’s what I thought. Then you’re naked?”</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">Says I: “Not yet. We promise not to engage in physical violence,</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">then we strip off unnecessary civilization. Toss it in the</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">pile with all the rest.”</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">She: “Then you’re naked.”</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">I: “No. We still hold onto our tattered dysfunctions and</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">threadbare beliefs like a 10 year old pair of bikini briefs.</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">That’s the last thing, but we hold fast, because, you know,</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">those stinking little lies and truths, that stained and</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">shredded pair of underwear held our life together for 10,</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">20, 40 years. And only when we can toss that old thing away</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">are we truly naked”</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">She blinks and says: “So it’s 100 men in the woods in tattered</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">underwear.”</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">I say: “Yes. But over the course of the week, it washes away in</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">the realm of ritual. Blown away by the breath of spirit.</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">Cracked open under the scrutiny and support of men. Pried</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">off by the power of story.”</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">She stares at me, silent, and then: “Why? ... Why do you do it?”</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">I say: “So we can see what’s left. That’s us. Naked. We can</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">hardly recognize ourselves, but that’s who we are. It’s</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">blinding. Dazzling. Beautiful. Very painful, but very real.</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">We walk with it. Work with it. Sing songs to honor and</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">protect it. Wounds are revealed, healed, become our</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">strength and our shield. Internal lands are explored.</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">Monsters are banished. And in the end, we bring some</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">of all this back into life, even as we put our clothes back on.”</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">She shifts and settles, ponders and pads about the room, then</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3">smiles and says: “Well have a good time then.”</font></div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Helvetica; min-height: 19.0px"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></font></p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- Greg Kimura</font></div></div><div><br></div></body></html>