Today - sitting at home in the English coastal city of Brighton & Hove - I received an email from Australia that made my heart sing with pride. It said:
"Your National Conferences really excited me so much when I learnt about them and followed their development online. With a great deal of inspiration from you we will be holding Australia’s first national men’s health, well-being and relationship training seminar in March."
What this means is that a conference for men and boys that I set up in England in 2011 is making a difference for men and boys in Australia 2013.
So what does this have to do with launching The AllMen Project?
Well, The AllMen Project is a commitment to develop a community of empowering individuals making a collective difference for men and boys - because when we are part of a global community, what each individual does can have a positive (or negative) impact on every one of us.
So The AllMen Project brings a conscious intention to some of the great work that's been happening in the global men's movement in the recent years.
One of my personal highlights was the UK's Second National Conference for Men and Boys in 2012 and in particular The Big Man Gathering, an event that wouldn't have happened without the tenacious drive of the South African project manager.
It was an extraordinary gathering of men committed to personal growth, many of them informed by US-influenced movements like The ManKind Project and the work of Richard Rohr.
The work that caused me to cause The Big Man Gathering to happen was inspired by the American Werner Ehrhard, who himself was influenced by the Englishman Alan Watts who is credited with bringing Zen Buddhism to the West.
So in a sense, the positive outcomes for men and boys that arise from the Australian conference in 2013 would never have happened without a man called Bodhidharma, the Buddhist monk who developed Zen in the 5th/6th Century.
And that is the point of The AllMen Project.
We can't all be Zen Buddhist Monks who leave a tangible legacy that lasts for centuries, but we all create waves that have an impact now, tomorrow and the next day.
And in simple terms I'm launching The AllMen Project so that people who want to make waves can get together and make a bigger splash!
If you want to join me in making waves for men and boys in 2013 then I'd love to hear from you via email at glen@glenpoole.com.
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