Walking Talking Men
Hey all, posting to see if guys would like to walk and talk once a week. This account and proposal is brand new. Just starting now.
The purpose is twofold:
- Give men a non-judgmental space to talk about the good and bad going on.
- To open the door to a community of local friendships with men in a world that often makes that difficult to find/maintain.
Why this Matters: Cigna research
Cigna and other major organizations regularly share research confirming that over 50% of people in the US feel “sometimes or always alone.” Research shows that men with a robust circle of friendships live longer healthier lives, have better relationships, feel more optimistic and are more successful in their personal and professional lives.
Time: Proposing once a week, likely on the weekend, walking for 50 minutes around 6pm, weather pending.
Location: Trying to find a central meeting point for folks up and down the Wasatch Front. Proposing the Jordan River Rotary Park Trailhead at 12300 S.
If enough people are interested, we may try splitting this into separate Utah county / Salt Lake county groups to reduce driving distance.
No need to sign up. Simply show up as yourself.
Every man of any background is welcome.
Rules:
- No politics
- Be yourself, be kind
- Respect confidentiality
- No hate speech
The rules for these walks are meant to help us dial down to the personal and talk about what’s going on for us in our own lives. They are not absolute. They are guidelines. (If two people agree to talk politics or religion between them, that is fine.)
Disclaimer: Walking Talking Men is not therapy and nobody going should act as another's therapist. We are not doing coaching. We are not doing men’s work. We are not starting a men’s rights group. Hate speech will NOT be tolerated. Please show up with kindness and respect. We are simply talking to create real, lasting, local friendships for men in the area. That’s it.
Credits: Walking Talking Men is co-founded by Mark Greene and Jonathan Jacobs. More info on their site and an FAQ: https://walkingtalkingmen.org/
Contact: If you’d like to join us on a walk, comment, DM, or send me an email to walkingtalkingmenutah (at) gmail.com with why this idea appeals to you. I’ll respond to all messages. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Edit 1: Concerns around the "No politics" rule.
Please read the fine print above: "The rules... are not absolute. They are guidelines."
"There are plenty of places to have [political] conversations and in our experience, talking about politics shuts down more personal conversations about what’s going on for us in our own lives."
These lines directly from the WalkingTalkingMen website are recommendations. If politics (or whatever you deem political) is what happened in your / someone else's life today and you / they choose to share it, we'd hope for everyone to have patience and respect, even when that's not easy. If you want to have an argument about what's right or wrong, or you want to denigrate any person or group for any reason, these walks simply aren't the space for that.
There's risk in being open with anybody, let alone strangers with differing hobbies, lifestyles, opinions, etc. It's understandable that this environment may seem too risky to be worth someone's time. Despite that, it is encouraging to see that some of these walking groups in other places are still going strong https://www.reddit.com/r/SouthBayLA/comments/1r5epoc/one_year_later_walking_talking_men/
Given the choice between doing nothing and fostering what should be a supportive low-stakes environment, even if it doesn't work out, we might as well try.