Paul Simard is the founder of HuMENity, a safe space for men to come together and explore new paradigms of what it means to be a man, to be masculine, and to live one’s true purpose in a highly-complex, fast-changing world.
- How do we (men) learn to express our emotions?
- How do we re-discover our role as men in an ever-evolving society?
- In a world where women no longer depend on men to be the breadwinner, who are we? What’s our role in the household?
- Where do men look for help when they have anxiety problems?
- Why are so many men committing suicide?
As you know, we are in the middle of a pandemic. Here in Quebec, we are considered to be a red zone and the government has made it illegal to indoor meetings. So I decided to invite Paul to do an interview with me in the park.
Unfortunately, the volume for the microphones was too high and it came out a bit distorted. Paul’s voice was a bit lower than mine, so I was able to save his voice, but my voice was inaudible so I have to do a voice-over. So I ask you to be tolerant of the sound quality of this interview.
Why men have a hard time expressing their emotions?
Men are not raised to talk about their feelings. It’s perceived as a sign of weakness, it brings ridicule and torment. Instead, we learn to keep quiet and “deal with it” on our own. We are told to “man up,” to “not be like a girl.” After a lifetime of silence, the whole spectrum of human emotion tends to be simplified into good or bad, happy, or mad. It’s either “I’m fine” or “Go away. Leave me alone.”
It takes time to unlearn these tendencies. It takes time to learn how to explore our emotions and express them out loud. It takes patience, love, and support from the ones close to us. Sometimes, it takes a group of other men to hear us out.
Where to find Paul
Email: we.see.you@humenity.co
Phone: 514.503.2116
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