Over 100+ Sensitive and Silly Men – education leaders from across the education system representing over 30 states – are already RSVP’d for the December 11th ‘A Sensitive Silly Men Summit for Men in Education!‘

We will explore the influences and inspiration that impacted men in education, discuss hot topics and dilemmas for men in education, and create a new fun community at the intersection of hilarity and accountability.

Sensitive Silly Men Summits Groups specifically designed for men in education will be offered in February and March including an offering for a monthly Hot Topics roundtable. More information on these NEW offerings can be found HERE!

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1. Close your eyes
2. Allow your heart take the escalator to your lips
3. Lose track of space and time
4. Don’t lose track of your bowel movements
5. You are currently embodying world peace, let go of the worry about how to achieve it in this moment and feel it fully!

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For example, I was getting a croissant and some water at the DTW terminal and the woman working there quickly complained how she “hated her job” even though the smell of fresh hot croissants is not bad.  I listened deeply to her and asked her about it.  We had a real conversation.  And then when I was paying for my breakfast I said I’ll also take this $85 dollar water bottle and she said “that is actually $105 water bottle and laughed.”  Then she said, “I like you.” I saw her light up.  I appreciated her and how powerful that moment of playfulness was.  I also hope she gets a different job soon.

At a bar in my neighborhood on the Eastside of Detroit, my super sexy girlfriend and I met a very stressed owner who was bar backing while also running the whole restaurant. She was very welcoming and slowed down for a moment to connect with us.  She shared that there would be a poetry event in the restaurant later that night and encouraged us to join it.  I asked her if she would be sharing any poetry. She shared that she will not be but that she used to write poetry as a kid.  She quickly recalled this poem she wrote titled ‘Why are chairs called chairs?’ and how the poem asked the question – why are chairs not called trees?  At the end of the night I said to her that the “trees” we had at the bar were the most comfortable trees we had sat on ever and thanked her for the night.  She laughed and looked at me with the biggest smile.  

At a coworking space in Detroit called Bamboo, I was busy talking with a fellow member when a potential new member came over to us and asked how we liked it there and that they were considering becoming a member.  We discussed it for a bit. They decided they were going to join and thanked us. Then I playfully asked them, are there any other big life decisions we can help you with.  He thought for a split second and shared that he and his wife were considering whether or not to have a second child and what would we advise? We all laughed – at the vulnerability, at the surprise of this playful conversation.  We considered the multiple points of perspective from his wife, to his, to their first child’s perspective and discussed all the factors involved.  In the end, he thanked us and said if the new baby was a boy that he would name them after me. 

It is moments like these that I feel most alive.  These moments are playful, they are rebellious, they are genuine, real, and fun.  It is what life is all about – the surprise, walking into the unknown of a new conversation – the ways in which the ordinary can become extraordinary in any moment. I love that.  I see that as a lifestyle and as an intentional approach to everyday moments and not just as a framework or orientation to social change or roles in which you connect with children.  That is what childhood changemaking is all about – a playful spirit, reconnecting with your inner child, and bringing the best qualities of childhood into your life to live most fully and joyfully.

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First, push your ears closer to your beat

feel the thunder of your pulse and the lightning that strikes

with each step of your own feet

Know that everyone you see has dreams given off the same heat

With each breath there’s all this linking

between what’s in and out

do the hokey pokey shake it all about

I’m not free till we’re all free

Are the words coming out of my mouth

Second, press your hands around this globe

Know deep in your heart that it’s your home

Ask yourself how deeply can I love this dome

The amount that you love it will equal your fight for justice

With each breath there’s all this linking

between what’s in and out

do the hokey pokey shake it all about

I’m not free till we’re all free

Are the words coming out of my mouth

Third, pull in a breath that takes up every inch of your lungs

feel your mitochondria begin to run

Stare another in the eyes without blinking

your mirror neurons light up, which gets me thinking

With each breath there’s all this linking

between what’s in and out

do the hokey pokey shake it all about

I’m not free till we’re all free

Are the words coming out of my heart

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Love and justice

Moving forward at the speed of trust

As we keep looking for solutions in innovation

Remember there is

Nothing novel

About undivided attention,

Unconditional Love,

A high five,

A hug,

A kiss,

The feeling of being heard,

Valued,

Belonging,

Loved,

Just as you are.

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The picket line

The lines between countries

The line between you and where the rest of the world begins

There may be no line more powerful of telling whether the future will be different than the present

than watching kindergarteners line up.

“Line up and be quiet” the teacher yells, casually unaware of the significance this ordinary routine has in shaping the future.

In an instant, all the children mindlessly obey and form a perfectly straight and quiet line in the school hallway.

The status quo sighs in relief resting reassured of its continuation

But wait.

Just then another teacher comes walking by

The children are signaled by their teacher to give a silent finger wave

They again all obey…

Except one

The smallest child in the class seems to think for a split second then exclaims at the top of his lungs “I have missed you so much!” while launching himself for a hug at the waist of the teacher walking by

That teacher walking by was me.

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In marches, in milestones, and also in moments

The times in which you feel you are enough

your head eases into your pillow

toes stretching out with certainty

that children would be proud of

you and your generation

Those moments of integrity

In marches, in milestones, and also in moments

The times in which you truly listen

Another speaks into your listening as if it were

A megaphone, a mirror, love itself

Those moments of connection

In marches, in milestones, and also in moments

The times in which you truly speak from the heart

And surprise yourself not by what you said

But by how your tone has become like the warmth of candlelight

Those moments of imagination

In marches, in milestones, and also in moments

The time in which a young child practices gratitude

And shares “I am grateful for everyone in the whole world”

Those moments where your heart melts

In marches, in milestones, and also in moments

The times in which you feel the world you have been

wishing for and fighting for

is here

for a moment – yes

but you just happened to be paying attention

and within that moment is just

everything

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