To be a Whole Man, we must first accept all the factors that make up who we are; physically, emotionally and mentally. There is an over-riding factor that affects all those attributes, two actually; genetics and environment. Both of those factors can shape us into who we are and both of those factors can be curtailed consciously to affect our attitudes and behaviour. In the end, however, by trying to deny these things, we do not allow ourselves to achieve our true potential. We must accept both the hereditary and experiential components that make us who we are. That is not to say that we should let our genetic pre-dispositions and the events of our past be excuses for poor behaviour though. The negative aspects should be used as warnings and signposts on how to better act and react to situations in the future.
These pre-dispositions are fuel for another blog in the future however.
At this time, what I want to talk about is those genetic components within us that form the balance of our emotional make up; the X and the Y chromosomes.
This goes back again to the Real Man versus the Whole Man. A Real Man will often try to deny the existence of the X chromosome. He will grasp onto and ride the wild stallion that is his testosterone and try and quell the other powerful hormone that still resides within him. In so doing, he creates an imbalance inside. Although estrogen (that other hormone) may live in lesser levels within him, it still has a home there. When it's existence is ignored, the emotional imbalance can result in pent up frustration and anger within a man and often reveal itself in the form of physical rage and violence. There is the capability of violence in a man for a reason, the protection of those he loves from other violent forces and the survival of oneself so that he can continue to protect those he loves. When that potential for violence is released, it should always be for those two reasons and none other.
The existence of estrogen within a man is there: because we are born of Man...and Woman, and so must both exist within us; and because we need to accept and embrace the softer emotions we are capable of so that the harder ones born of testosterone do not destroy us or those we love when it is not needed for those same reasons.
Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was a television show on called Alien Nation. Briefly, it was about an alien slave race that had overthrown the yokes of their masters and crash-landed in California where, after a period of time, they were accepted (somewhat) and assimilated into human cultures. Many of them took on Earth names and occupations. The show was mainly about two police officers, one human, one alien, and their interaction with each other and their coming to understand each others' cultures and ways over time.
It was a fun show and did not dwell deeply on the philosophical differences between the two peoples but it did touch on them on a weekly basis. One episode stands out starkly in my memories. George, the alien cop, had a wife who was pregnant. It turned out that, in his species, during the second trimester of pregnancy that it was the male's turn to carry the baby inside himself for a time. This led, of course, to some rather comical scenes where George demonstrated the quirks and set backs of being pregnant, including back pain, and most importantly, uncontrolled emotional outbursts caused by the imbalance of hormones that can occur at this time.
It was this situation, after one such sudden incident in which George inexplicably bursts into tears, that revealed to me a profound revelation about life. His detective partner, Matthew, becomes increasingly irritated with George's issues, and comments on it. Matthew's character has been the epitome of the "Real" man through out the series but has slowly been growing into more of a Whole Man during his association with George. His exasperation shows that he still has a ways to go though. It is George who then reveals the universal truth I had never really considered before then.
He responds to Matthew's frustration with a short and simple comment, "I do not understand you human males. You are only part of what you can be. You make fun of me and get annoyed when I show my "feminine" side. Yet there is both within us, male and female, X and Y chromosomes. By denying that side of yourself, unlike the males of my species, you are denying a part of yourself. How can you life a half-life like that?"
The words have been paraphrased, my memory is not that good, but their meaning has never been forgotten; a "Real" man embraces the Masculine within while denying the Feminine.
A Whole Man embraces both, and in so doing, can become more.....
These pre-dispositions are fuel for another blog in the future however.
At this time, what I want to talk about is those genetic components within us that form the balance of our emotional make up; the X and the Y chromosomes.
This goes back again to the Real Man versus the Whole Man. A Real Man will often try to deny the existence of the X chromosome. He will grasp onto and ride the wild stallion that is his testosterone and try and quell the other powerful hormone that still resides within him. In so doing, he creates an imbalance inside. Although estrogen (that other hormone) may live in lesser levels within him, it still has a home there. When it's existence is ignored, the emotional imbalance can result in pent up frustration and anger within a man and often reveal itself in the form of physical rage and violence. There is the capability of violence in a man for a reason, the protection of those he loves from other violent forces and the survival of oneself so that he can continue to protect those he loves. When that potential for violence is released, it should always be for those two reasons and none other.
The existence of estrogen within a man is there: because we are born of Man...and Woman, and so must both exist within us; and because we need to accept and embrace the softer emotions we are capable of so that the harder ones born of testosterone do not destroy us or those we love when it is not needed for those same reasons.
Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was a television show on called Alien Nation. Briefly, it was about an alien slave race that had overthrown the yokes of their masters and crash-landed in California where, after a period of time, they were accepted (somewhat) and assimilated into human cultures. Many of them took on Earth names and occupations. The show was mainly about two police officers, one human, one alien, and their interaction with each other and their coming to understand each others' cultures and ways over time.
It was a fun show and did not dwell deeply on the philosophical differences between the two peoples but it did touch on them on a weekly basis. One episode stands out starkly in my memories. George, the alien cop, had a wife who was pregnant. It turned out that, in his species, during the second trimester of pregnancy that it was the male's turn to carry the baby inside himself for a time. This led, of course, to some rather comical scenes where George demonstrated the quirks and set backs of being pregnant, including back pain, and most importantly, uncontrolled emotional outbursts caused by the imbalance of hormones that can occur at this time.
It was this situation, after one such sudden incident in which George inexplicably bursts into tears, that revealed to me a profound revelation about life. His detective partner, Matthew, becomes increasingly irritated with George's issues, and comments on it. Matthew's character has been the epitome of the "Real" man through out the series but has slowly been growing into more of a Whole Man during his association with George. His exasperation shows that he still has a ways to go though. It is George who then reveals the universal truth I had never really considered before then.
He responds to Matthew's frustration with a short and simple comment, "I do not understand you human males. You are only part of what you can be. You make fun of me and get annoyed when I show my "feminine" side. Yet there is both within us, male and female, X and Y chromosomes. By denying that side of yourself, unlike the males of my species, you are denying a part of yourself. How can you life a half-life like that?"
The words have been paraphrased, my memory is not that good, but their meaning has never been forgotten; a "Real" man embraces the Masculine within while denying the Feminine.
A Whole Man embraces both, and in so doing, can become more.....
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