The Mysteries of Masculinity

The Mysteries of Masculinity

When I was a child, my parents gave me a framed copy of Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If,” which ends (after an endless litany of requirements) with the punch line: “You’ll be a Man, my son!” The truth is, if you can follow all the dictates outlined in that poem, you’ll be...
Remedies for Loneliness

Remedies for Loneliness

It was a frightening realization of my early 30s that had I not moved away from my family and my hometown when I did, I would already have been dead. I have no doubt that I would have committed suicide by the time I was 25, I felt so alone and ashamed and afraid of my...