144 THE CREATIVE INVESTMENT TEAM
safety is the Mankind Project. They conduct experiential weekends
for men (there is a sister organization for women). They allow the
participants to explore and often resolve important life issues in a
safe setting. The weekend is open to men from all walks of life,
religions, sexual orientations, ethnicities, and races. The effects of
the weekend are dramatic. I have heard graduates say that their
experience was as powerful as the day that their first child was
born. Robert Moore—renowned Jungian analyst, author, and
graduate of the weekend—believes that it is the best initiatory
experience available to men in our country today. (The Mankind
Project is now international, with centers in Britain, Canada, and
Germany, and has plans for others as well.)
How does the Mankind Project organization create such pow-
erful personal experiences? By creating a safe container, one in which
men can wrestle intensely with life issues, knowing that supportive
and skillful allies surround them. In the two dozen or so weekends
that I’ve staffed, I’ve seen countless examples of what I call “every-
day” heroes, but one in particular sticks with me.
Bruce was a husband, father, lawyer, and ex-Marine. He was
the “toughest” guy participating in the weekend. I like to watch
what happens with the toughest guy, because he measures the safety
of the container. If he opens up, then the container has met its
toughest challenge. If he skates through the weekend relatively
unaffected, then the container failed. It wasn’t strong enough for
him to trust it.
Bruce went through the coldest weekend on record, in the dead
of winter in Chicago: zero degrees with a wind chill of minus 30.
Mild-mannered, but with a steely look in his eyes, Bruce waited
until all the other men had told their stories and wrestled with their
personal demons before he spoke. Then, at about midnight in an
old camp recreation center, under a full moon, he told us about his
experience as a Marine. He said that he had been the last initiate
to crack during boot camp. Weeks after each of the others had
fallen apart, wept, screamed for their mamas, puked, and begged14-25 ware 144 1/19/01, 1:14 PM