Over the last weekend we had stayed with a colleague and friend of mine in France, it felt joyful and meaningful to be there. He and is family are living about an hour south of Grenoble in a very rural and to me deeply beautiful area surrounded by rough, mystical mountains in all directions. It was such a joy to be there, because I knew that the people living there wanted us to be there, we had a direct connection with them, contributed materially to their lives (preparing food, gardening), and there was even physical weaving and extending of the purpose work he and I usually do together online. During our last evening the two of us talked a lot about feminism, patriarchy, bell hooks, and before we went to bed we hugged in a way that I’ve only hugged very men so far in my life (almost all of them I met through NGL[1]). It was a long hug, strong and still tender, enjoying each other’s physical closeness, sensing our breathings, how they would go in and out of sync, and holding each other in a way that I believe is unknown to most men, and, sadly, also not part of my daily life. I’m celebrating a lot that what we are doing in NGL makes such closeness between men possible.
Hug me dearly
May 18, 2023