By Warren Steury
Put a boy in the woods and watch how long it takes for him to start painting his face and shooting arrows across the sky. In that instant all the expectations, rules, customs, and manners of his society are set aside for a far more primal and vigorous identity that lies dormant in the heart of every man, and in many cases is never awakened at all. It is the wild man, or Iron John as Robert Bly called him, that exists in each and every one of us.
If we can wake him up, and tame him, we can do whatever we want in life.
And so that’s exactly what happened this past weekend at our Father/Son camping trip here in Tennessee. Three dads, a grandfather, and three sons all walked out into Montgomery Bell State Park with their possessions for the next 36 hours on their backs. The trail ahead was filled with conversations on manhood, character, and ambition. Wilderness skills were learned, fires stoked, and legs made strong by hard hiking in the Tennessee heat.
But when we left the parking lot, we left far more than our cars and trucks behind. You see, the forest has a strange way of shifting our personality if we spend enough time in it. A few hours hiking around tends to not do too much, one night gets you far enough to see what’s possible, multiple days will show you pieces of yourself you never knew, and months will transform you entirely.
The forest draws the wild man out. The man that’s usually tempered and censored by society. Who’s beastly strength is a reckoning for anyone crossing his path. It is this wild man that we must wake up, and tame, or else we risk living life on mute, or as Thoreau said, leading “lives of quiet desperation…”
Our Academy is here to help boys and men wake up from this slumber that has snatched so many men throughout history, and is particularly destructive in our modern, emasculated, social conditions. With the wild man asleep we never learn what we’re capable of, how dangerous we really are, how hard we’re willing to fight to protect what we love, and how much discomfort we can truly endure.
All of the great masculine virtues come by awakening the wild man.
But we can’t run around the office chewing on t-bone steaks and shooting arrows at our co-workers, and your son can’t go to school in a loin cloth swinging from the ceiling rafters! So what does the wild man look like when we’re back to our daily lives? He’s a trailblazing entrepreneur who doesn’t let the status quo get in the way of innovation, a persistent hard-worker who isn’t bothered by the discomfort of rejection and struggle, a creative thinker who knows how to use his resources to their maximum ability.
He pushes forward when the going gets tough and the soft men give up.
You see waking up this wild man isn’t about staying out in the woods our whole lives or becoming some caveman hermit living off the land. Waking up the wild man invigorates our masculinity, strengthens our manhood, and hardens us against the societal pressures that seek to conform us every day of our lives.
Our country was built by these wild men. Men like Washington, Jackson, and Roosevelt. Who’s habits of fortitude, courage, and wisdom helped them overcome any challenge that stood in their way. The future of this country will be led by these wild men again. Those who can disregard criticism, brush off discomfort, and see the path forward when everyone else feels lost.
Do the things that wake up this wild man, do them with your son. Join a boxing gym, go on hard hikes, and read about the wild men who lived before you so you can learn to emulate their ways. And of course, come to Meriwether and bring your boy with you, the future of this nation is in the hands of us wild men.
WARREN STEURY
Learn more about our events at www.meriwetheracademy.com/events