After more than a decade as a single self-sufficient professional, I met Arnie Waldman, who later became my husband.
Hey!!
Arnie Waldman?!! Would that be the
same Arnie Waldman mentioned at the end of a recent
Mankind Project publication put out by its Greater Washington branch??!!
From the October 2007 Issue of
Bullskin, a publication of the Greater Washington Center of MKP, pp 12-14:
http://www.thebullskin.org/PUTTING ELDER ENERGY TO WORK ON A NWTA Story by Ed Modell
PASSIONATE BUFFALOAs initiators of men,
We carry forward,
To this weekend,
The wisdom of the ages!THEME OF JUNE 2007 NWTA The Ritual Elder (R.E.) role on a NWTA is primarily to shepherd blessing energy, caring for both the staff and the initiates. Curiously (if not intentionally), there is no R.E. protocol, though several protocols do assign individual tasks to the R.E. So each NWTA is an adventure in itself for the R.E. to define his role, determine his relationship to the weekend leader team, and to put his own ego aside for 72 hours, which is no easier task for any staff member.
The June 2007 NWTA was a particularly challenging and rewarding one for me as the R.E. because the weekend leader, Tom Pittner (formerly of NYC, now of LA) called on ALL the elders on staff to put blessing energy to work in active service. I'm sharing one unique task in the hope that it will inspire other weekend leaders to consider putting the elders to work in the same or some other creative way.
After the Friday morning staff meeting, Tom called a circle of the elders on staff to discuss the eight MKPI core values and an additional four values that the NYC Center has added: Integrity, Mission, Generosity, Diversity, Humility, Authenticity, Generativity, Vision, Compassion, Service, Transformation, and Accountability. He assigned one elder to each value, and to report later when the staff exhibited it. Here is an abridged version of the observations:
INTEGRITY
One of the innumerable ways that I saw integrity over the weekend was the depth of feeling that Chris Hull showed doing the context presentations, particularly in the Sunday morning circle.
SERVICE
On the GUTS floor, I have always been awed by the men who put themselves in physical danger with initiates to give them the resistance and challenge they need to break out of their heads. This weekend, Dan Logan was one of the men who did that on my guts team, while providing the additional amusement of instinctively going for a one-leg takedown with an initiate who started to turn his process into a wrestling match. And Dan did his usual job of being everywhere for facilities with whatever was needed. Let's never take the facilities men for granted.
GENEROSITY
I saw many demonstrations of generosity.
• The giveaway by MOS/Hearthkeepers as they held the container, freeing the staff from the need to worry about buying food and preparing meals.
• The giveaway of our community with more than 30 brother dancers showing up Saturday night.
• The giveaway of the men on staff, giving up their time to support the new brothers of this weekend.
• The giveaway of staff men supporting other staff by mentoring and, when needed, assisting them in getting assignments done.AUTHENTICITY
I judge that one of the hardest times to be authentic is when we know we have given all we are and all we have and recognize that it was not enough. I recognized that on the GUTS floor several times and was grateful when senior men stepped in. Rob Ozello took the additional step of telling the staff meeting that with one man, he simply lacked the skills to help, was grateful that Tom Pitner came over.
DIVERSITY
Geographical, Physical Appearance, Age, Years of Experience with MKP from Rookie Energy to X+ Staffings, many attributes that are visible or voiced, are acknowledged diverse energies of men at this weekend. What emerges, swirls among the container, bubbles up with power and energy, are the Gifts; Gold of each man that is profoundly diverse that provides for the richness at this weekend and moving out to the world that is
THE WISDOM OF THE AGES.
HUMILITY
I feel that Tom Pitner embodied this principle so well. He exemplified for me what I sense the Warrior Monk should be (even though I have never taken that training), low-key, but with tons of strength in reserve. I also felt that David Kaar exemplified this trait, yet willing to play second fiddle to Tom, whom he had mentored. Our organization is definitely in good hands, with leaders like these two men.
MISSION
Our mission was clearly carried out this weekend, with intention, ease, and peace. This weekend modeled how it is when a mission is fulfilled with peace at the center. We were more than enough, and I was honored to be among this team supporting it and keeping watch over it.
COMPASSION
I had to bless and honor my own compassion before I could bless and honor compassion when I saw it in others. And I saw it a lot, but most especially on the guts carpet as initiates and staff looked deeply into the face of the suffering of the initiates who were working. Without the level of compassion that is present at GUTS, the magic could not happen.
ACCOUNTABILITY
I saw 40 staff men keeping their commitments, from filling out their forms, attending the pre-weekend staff meeting, showing up authentically, preparing their parts, being where they needed to be BEFORE they needed to be there, speaking their truth, taking risks, parking their egos for the sake of the new brothers, holding these new brothers in their hearts in a good way, protecting and cleaning up the site to honor our commitment with Claymont and planning a worthy celebration to honor them.
GENERATIVITY
I witnessed the unassuming nature of our Elders in their support of other men online and offline. I was touched by the care we all took to share all we had with the next generation of Warriors. We all did great work sharing wisdom and knowledge throughout the weekend. The moments with Tom Pitner, as he assisted and worked with two young men with very challenging issues, sticks out for me. As a rookie staffer, I became more aware of how much I have to share as an Elder.
TRANSFORMATION
To mine the gold from your shadow. The two types of transformation I believe I saw most often in men on the Weekend were: (1) Men who felt fear and walked into their fear. (2) Men whose egos traditionally constrained them released themselves from those constraints on the Weekend to serve the Initiates and fellow staff members. After I spoke to men about these shadow-mining behaviors I saw them confronting their fears and setting aside their egos. I saw many more behaviors where I would have liked to engage a man, but but The Journey Continued and I never got back to that man.
VISION
I witnessed Vision in many ways on the weekend:
• Tom Pitner's guiding principle that the strength of the container was created by the focus of the individual men on the moment, on the union of the container and on the integrity of the container.
• Numerous examples by numerous men putting aside their egos and wants to maintain the union and the integrity of the container.
• Facilitation on the guts carpet (such as by Steve Shofar & Jon Wilson) which cut through the details of the story to the core of the man's work. As Ritual Elder, I felt uplifted by the elder energy and I judge the rest of the staff and the initiates were as well. So I conclude by thanking the men who contributed their elder energy, many of whom also contributed their observations to this article: Clinton Anderson, James Brown, Michael Clawson, David Dozier, Mike Fallon, Mike Harrison, Todd Lowenberg, Randy Marks, David Morgenstein, Max Sampson, James Stamps,
Arnie Waldman, Richard Warren, Mike Weiner, and Eric Weinstein.
