Are
there men in your life that you admire?
Every
individual is unique and special, one of a kind. And over the course of time we
each meet different people whose special contribution to our lives can fill us
with delight, awe and gratitude.
In
this post, I’d like to begin a new feature called Men’s Passion Profiles. You will meet three men I know and hold in
great esteem. Fortunately for me there are many more. My initial selections
will be aimed at highlighting men with diverse passions. You will have the
opportunity to participate by thinking about yourself and other men you admire.
You can comment and suggest others who can be profiled here, including you.
In
the book King, Warrior, Magician and Lover
authors Gillette and Moore talk about the importance of openly expressing
admiration for men as part of what supports our personal growth and the
development of authentic community with our brothers of all ages. How often do
we overlook and forget to express this? What holds us back?
As
a community organizer I like the idea that something so basic becomes both the
glue and the balm of our relationships with one another. Truth be told though,
it just feels good to admire and be admired by other men. It cuts through our
ego and penetrates that veil or wall so many of us were conditioned to believe
is the natural competitive state of our co-existence with other men. And it can
help spur us on to even greater heights in the pursuit of our passions and life
purpose.
Men’s Passion Profiles
Steve
Lauterbach-
A
now retired surgeon and administrator in ER at San Francisco Kaiser, Steve made a decision before
the end of his satisfying career to move to the mountains and a small
community. A bold move that his family was not entirely happy with initially.
Choosing in favor of his passion for the alpine, its peace, beauty and
inspiration became a great boon for all he came into contact with in his new
full-time home. He used and is using his hard won political and social acumen
in tense situations to build better alliances and relationships in his son’s
schools, his community associations and in moving forward a vision for creating
access and education about local forests and recreation opportunities.
I
had the great pleasure to partner with Steve in creating a community
association that would assist neighbors to resolve conflicts in the use of
their immediate national forest lands while unleashing creativity and
collaboration to create a legacy trail system for hikers, mountain bikers and
equestrians in the central Sierra Nevada mountains of California. I learned
much from his calm, quiet, yet openly enthusiastic problem-solving demeanor in
places where strong feelings could easily have derailed meeting the higher
needs of the group. I admire Steve’s qualities of focus, commitment, gentle
persistence and compassion. He is always challenging himself in new ways and
recently supported a 69 year old friend to complete a 101 mile trail race in
under 34 hours by being the support “pacer” for the last 23 miles.
Some
of Steve’s work and play passion can be viewed at http://arnoldrimtrail.org
Bill
Poulson-
Initially
learning construction from his contractor father Bill supported himself doing
carpentry and eventually became a fine woodworker and furniture maker. At 21 he
built a sailboat with a friend and sailed to Hawaii where he lived for many
years. Bill became a high end stain-glass artist and now with his wife, partner,
glass and fine artist Bobbette Budsworth creates beautiful and sometimes
intricate windows and large wall size glass murals that are displayed on more
than one continent. His autumn season mural of Yosemite National Park has been
on display at the famous Awani Hotel and another mural of Boston Harbor in
colonial times is in Tokyo at a large hotel for American military personnel.
I’ve
had the pleasure to both work and play with Bill and at one point create a
business that produced architectural features for landscapes including real and
faux rocks, waterfalls and outdoor furniture that blended with nature. We
shared an intense passion for nature, building and design as well as being ski
buddies “dancing on top of the world” together. I admire Bill’s deep
sensitivity to all things in nature. Beauty can literally bring this weathered-hands
man to tears. His desire to bring his murals to where millions can be inspired
is one that continues to occupy his thoughts and dreams as he completes the
last two of the four seasonal murals of Yosemite National Park.
Check
out Bill’s new Kickstarter campaign to finish the murals.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Yosemite-Murals/346453115444425
Bob
Olofson-
I
first saw Bob on stage as a wailin’ sax player for one of the hottest Reggae
bands in far northern California. It was obvious to me that music is where his heart
had landed early on in life.
It
was much later that Bob and I got to be friends and I discovered some of his
other passions. Bob, like many other men in these profiles has been a very
dedicated husband and though he has worked as an employee in a variety of
settings he is master of his own schedule as a property manager.
Bob involved
himself in the development of spiritual community and has co-created events
that bring people together on common ground to celebrate both their diversity
and unity.
Bob's been part of or formed other musical partnerships that
publicly perform and record in many genres including original material. He has
written and recorded a powerful and evocative musical called “Looking for
Daddy,” in which he explores his own path to healing and wholeness out of
childhood wounds and trauma.
I’ve
worked with Bob over the years to help sustain a 22-year-old annual gathering
of men and boys known as The Northcoast Men’s Gathering that takes place in the
wilds of the Lost Coast of California. Bob became a steadfast leader of men in partnership
with others you may meet in future profiles. Bob models leadership by telling
his truth and creating safe places for others to do the same.
What
I admire most about Bob is his fierce courage in hunting down his own inner
ghosts, meeting them head on and having the amazing ability to communicate that
inner journey to others in ways we can immediately understand and identify with
as men, each on our own journey to realize our best selves.
http://www.ncmensgathering.org
Now let me ask again. Who do you admire? Have you told them?
Ready for greater clarity about your passions and what it would look like to be living them fully? Call me and we'll talk. 209 923-0502
