We’ve been told that to have emotions as a man is to be feminine. That to express emotions is a sign of weakness. Obvious this is put forth by males who have never lived full lives. Who have never had the sting of defeat or tragedy in their lives. Who live timid lives, and never venture forth into the darkness. To put it succinctly. It is masculine to express emotions it only becomes unmasculine when we are controlled by those emotions particularly weak emotions such as fear and doubt. A man must saddle up and ride regardless of how much fear he feels.
Our emotions, our heart gives us tremendous power as men. While a woman’s emotions add to her weakness a man’s emotions add to his strength. A man without a fire in his heart is no man but rather a robot or a dull echo of a man. Men live with passion, virility, and fight. They have the will to fight and passion in their hearts. They live for the peaks and the battle. A man is not divorced from his emotions but rather harnesses them to be all that he can be. Without emotions we would be dull robots. Zombies who spend their time watching porn and chanting political slogans.
Emotions Are A Source Of Strength
As a man your emotions are a source of strength and power in your life. They are the fuel and the fire that propel you forward. A man without passion is not alive and is not a man. Emotions are what connect your mind and soul. They are what help you to express the man that you are inside. Without emotions there is no expression. Like I said we would be automatons, not men. It was harnessing his emotions that took Alexander across the land, that led Leonidas to the Hot Gates, and which gave Casanova his penchant for rich women.
Without this heart, without this passion we are men. We are dead soulless creatures. Zombies, robots, whatever take your pick. I once saw emotions as a sign of weakness now I know it is only being led by weak emotions that is weakness and to express true emotions is rather a strength. To believe in something and to fight. To have a fire in the belly. Yes, control your emotions but do not squash them down with numbness. To be numb is to be dead. To be alive is to feel and feel completely.
Thumos
Man is characterized by an energy. Masculinity itself is a type of energy. A source. A zest, a passion, a fight. Masculinity is a enlivening spirit. It animates and vies. It is alive. As the feminine is peaceful and passive the masculine is passionate and active. The feminine coos and the masculine roars. If anything a man has more intense emotions than a woman and expresses them more intensely. Not just anger of both the good kind and bad. But all emotions except negative ones such as fear and doubt. Women congregate in the safe middle while men (real men) live on the daring edge. By taking away your emotions you neuter yourself to your masculinity and too life itself.
We were created to be active agents. To love whatever we may love, to fight whatever we may fight, to stand wherever we may stand. Indifference and apathy are marks of weakness. Thumos is the animating energy of masculinity. Thumos spurs you on towards victory, towards achievement of your goals, to whatever your next venture may be. I cannot do justice to this deep and important topic in a paragraph or two. Go here for a more in depth explanation of this essential part of manhood.
Emotional Intimacy & Power
Man is not just a mind. He is just as much a heart. To fully be a man we must embrace both our minds and hearts. Harness them together to lead us to our destinies. Emotional intimacy probably seems like a topic that would never be addressed on this site. But it is something that is incredibly important for your development as a man. To be emotionally intimate means to be intimate with ourselves and with our souls. With who we are. It means to feel our emotions completely and fully yet not be controlled by them but rather to use them to spur us on to good action.
To be emotionally intimate with ourselves leads to emotional intimacy (true friendship) with those like us. It allows us to forge brotherhoods, to watch over our loved ones, and to be the men that we were created to be. It is not weak or feminine as the world would lead you to believe robbing your of immense strength and power. The heart is the seat of our power and when we divorce ourselves from it we divorce ourselves from our immense power as men. Remember our heart is the seat of our power.
Summary
To be a man is not to be an unexpressive wall. Rather to have the strength of the wall or rock but in a dynamic fashion. To be a man we must feel with our hearts and think with our minds. We must have both brains and balls. Both smarts and passion. Without one we are weak and without the other we are ineffective. We must become emotionally intimate with ourselves and feel everything we feel truly and completely. We must live lives filled with thumos, passion, and fight. To vie greatly in this life. That is to be a man. Don’t let your heart be neutered by this world.
If you have any questions you would like to see answered in a future post send them to me at charlessledge001 (at) gmail (dot) com. If you found value in this post then I would encourage you to share this site with someone who may need it as well as check out my books here. I appreciate it.
-Charles Sledge
