what there is to love about a man: rhythm

To find his own rhythm, a man needs to discover the beat of his own heart. He begins slowly by taking off his watch, turning off the automatic coffeemaker, and finding the cadence that is his alone. He notices when the sun rises and sets, when the moon swells to fullness, and when the leaves begin to turn. He acknowledges — indeed, welcomes — the changes in his body as he ages, and the changes in those around him. In time, he will sense the cycles of ebb and flow that run through every segment of his life, and he will honor them without fear. He will find himself as one drop of water in an ocean of infinity, and he will feel whole. When a man can lie on the ground and feel the heartbeat of Mother Earth beneath his own, he will find himself in sync with the very flow of life itself. The passage of time will take on a new quality; death and rebirth will follow in their turn. Then he is free to add his own beat to the universal pulse. To join in the drumming, the rhythm of life.

Excerpted from my out-of-print book, What There is To Love About A Man (Sourcebooks, 1999). New copies are no longer available, but used and imperfect (remainders) can be had for cheap on www.bn.com and other places as well. Or, just keep visiting this blog and you’ll eventually read most (if not all) of the pages right here! Click here to read my other writings honoring and celebrating masculine qualities of body, mind and spirit.