Open heart. Strong spine

Many men who are sensitive to other people's needs and emotions find themselves stuck in a dilemma.

On one side, staying open. Feeling more connected to other people and to life, but also feeling easily overwhelmed, taking in too much, losing their own ground in the process. Often not fully sure what they themselves feel and think, risking overriding their own true needs and wants.

On the other side, armoring up. Becoming more rigid, more emotionally cut off, more protected. Gaining some mental clarity and serenity, but losing something vital when connection, aliveness, and love all get suppressed or drained in the process.

Here is what is not being taught or shared in our culture. The balance is not some percentage of each. The balance is a fully open heart and a fully strong spine, at the same time.

A strong spine, meaning the ability to live from our own embodied center, to know what we want, to hold clear boundaries, and to have real clarity, provides the internal ground that makes it safe for the heart to open. And an open heart brings the connectivity, the aliveness, the love and wisdom, and the richness that makes having a strong spine worth anything at all.

Together they are not in tension. They fully complement each other. They are two sides of the same coin of being a whole, embodied, and sovereign man.

And this matters. It matters for our own experience of being fully alive. It matters for how we show up in our work and in our leadership. And it matters for the people we love, our families, our partners, our communities. All the best,

Sebastian