Listen. Do You Hear That?

The man weekend. No strippers. No poker. No smoking. No pornography. No vandalism. No hiking, no mountain biking, no sweating. Just an annual gathering of a close circle of friends with the mutual goal of doing absolutely nothing. The only form of self destruction is beer harmlessly and methodically administered over the course of days. Otherwise, there is nothing requiring much thought beyond what kind of beer is next. No TV, no radio.

This surely must be the most uninteresting, spiritless, complacent group of men ever to congregate. Haven’t these guys seen any beer advertisements with bikini models in bubbling vats of water, thrashing rock & roll bands, and hilarious hijinks? Did these guys forget the college years? Have they lost their will to live? Are they not men? A whole weekend away from wives, children, and girlfriends and they don’t totally take advantage of it? What happens in the mountains, stays in the mountains – shouldn’t that be the credo signed in blood by all participants? Is this really a man weekend? Hey, at least none of us took showers or used hair products.

Each year, starting last year, those of us who have remained closely knit through college and beyond (plus an additional friend or relative who has garnered more than enough respect to be welcomed into the personality mix) gather at a pristine location nestled within some of the most incredible, mostly virginal forestry just west of the crumbling-but-almost-charming town of Como, Colorado. It is there that we congregate on the cabin deck at roughly 10,000 feet above sea level and begin telling stories, making fun of each other, and laughing for no good reason for roughly two whole days. And there is food. Maybe we’re renaissance men (unintentionally), but man we make some good food: burritos which include whole wheat tortillas, brown rice with lime and cilantro; custom omelets with such things as capers, horseradish cheese, and Portobello mushrooms; freshly made spinach lasagna – the list goes on. The beverages we chose were a veritable United Nations taste treat – representatives from Scotland, Ireland, England, Germany, and even some small towns in Colorado.

So what’s the big deal with this reunion when nothing happens beyond storing calories? The answer lies in that very question – there is no big deal and that’s exactly what was needed. We work and work and work, then we go home and turn into husbands and fathers (not that those last two roles are bad, mind you) then sometimes we work some more after the family is in bed. We stress and strive to make solid lives for our children and we sacrifice for ourselves. So yes, it is quite entertaining to go to a beautiful place and do absolutely nothing but eat, drink, laugh, and be dumb.

It seems our lives are so cluttered with doing things. As if the act of going to work wasn’t drudgery enough on its own accord, there are always team picnics, company “fun” days, and happy hours. Our weekends are spent doing all the things we didn’t have time to do during the week, and wedged in there are the things we feel we must go do that really maybe we don’t always want to do: neighborhood get-togethers, poker nights, baby showers, helping someone with a project….things that are not bad, it’s just that they sometimes get in the way of precious free time and we are often too nice to say no.

We create our own stress, to a large extent, yet we rarely take a step back any more to breathe a couple of good lungs-full of cleansing air. It’s as if we are too busy to realize how busy we are, how pre-occupied we are, how over-baked we are. But if you can ever stop long enough to see that there is a need for little space, you must take the opportunity not to make something out of nothing, but rather to enjoy nothing for what it is.