Men's Perspectives
Men who fulfill
Dad was born in Maine in January 1933. He was the second child and son born to his parents, though his older brother died at a very young age. A sister and another brother were born in subsequent years, and they were raised together by God-fearing parents in southern Maine. Grandpa was a carpenter. Dad learned many skills from him. Gram taught briefly. She was frugal, but not cheap. During the Great Depression and World War II years when sugar, eggs, and other staples were rationed, Gram celebrated her children's half-birthdays as an excuse to bake cakes for them, since sweets were rare luxuries. Dad fondly remembered his mother's justification for that tradition.
By Mack D. Ames2 months ago in Men
Ounce A Pawn A Thyme
I can't recall how I found Vocal Media. When I did, the stars shone brightly in my eyes. Dreams of won challenges danced in my head. Cha-ching, cha-ching was the song they sang. Then I wrote my first piece, crashed to earth, oh dang. Tried again, burned up. Once more. Gave up. Glassy-eyed, I knew I'd never crack the top two, so what would I or should I or could I do?
By Mack D. Ames2 months ago in Men
Self-knowledge is Fertilizer
In which direction shall my thoughts take me now? I have no idea. I just begin writing and hope that something inspires me to write a worthwhile piece. Sometimes, I have already given the subject matter some thought but most times I am searching for something to write about. This is a stream of consciousness exposé and I wish to capture everything that comes to mind from the beginning of the decision to write until the decision to end the session is made. This boilerplate text serves a function. It acts as a catalyst for what follows. Eventually, I stumble upon something to write. I want to demonstrate the mechanism by which I arrived at the topic of discussion. To witness the switching happen in real time. But still nothing occurs. I’m growing impatient. I should never write when seeking something to write about. It’s the least effective means of generating subject matter. Thinking real hard about what to think about yields no results in almost all cases. Interesting that that is so. I wonder why.
By The Dialectic2 months ago in Men
Why ESG Is No Longer Optional — It's a Competitive Advantage
--- Not long ago, I sat across the table from the CEO of a mid-sized manufacturing company in Central Europe. He was dismissive. ESG, he told me, was a passing trend — a checkbox exercise invented by regulators and imposed on businesses that were "actually trying to grow." He'd spent thirty years building his company without worrying about carbon disclosures or governance frameworks, and he wasn't about to start now.
By Scott Gelbard3 months ago in Men
Why Succession Planning Is the Most Overlooked Growth Strategy in Business
--- Most founders and business owners spend enormous energy building their companies — and almost none thinking about what happens after them. In my 25 years advising businesses across North America, Europe, and Asia, I've watched extraordinary enterprises falter not because the market shifted or the competition won, but because no one had a plan for what came next.
By Scott Gelbard3 months ago in Men
Sunset's Inching Closer
Final Sunsets Shouldn't Be Known About Sadly, some things, no matter how special, are doomed to end. That's the reality of life. Things that you love will stop being, and people who matter will stop knowing what you really went through. Ultimately, for the majority, you die alone.
By Jason Morton3 months ago in Men
