![[good]men: works > in > progress](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!yeC6!,w_120,h_120,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7f1138b2-fde1-461d-afea-95b2066e2dbc_1077x1077.png)
Reading Time: 7+ minutes, 901 words (and lots of photos). Ideas inspired by the [good]men initiative. Read backstory here. Check out the [good]men website here. Or, Subscribe for free:
Pro Tip:
If reading by email, the article will get cut off due to the number of photos.
Feel free to jump to my [good]men Substack to read it in full.
In out-of-the-way places of the heart, / Where your thoughts never think to wander, / This beginning has been quietly forming, / Waiting until you were ready to emerge.
- John O’Donahue, “For A New Beginning”
For a long time it has watched your desire, / Feeling the emptiness growing inside you, / Noticing how you willed yourself on, / Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.
- John O’Donahue, “For A New Beginning”
Daydreaming a Winter Ago
A winter ago Dan Kinzer and I began daydreaming “The Voyage”.
At its core: a ‘walking retreat’ along the North Shore of O’ahu, Hawaii.
The concept would blend Dan’s near-annual ‘walk’ he takes around the perimeter of O’ahu and my own emerging [good]men hiking experiences and retreats.
Deep diving into Hawaiian wayfinding culture.
A week of hiking and living off-grid.
Purposeful men’s work and conversations.
It fired up our imaginations. And our sketchbooks.
But we had no idea IF our vision would make sense to others.
IF anyone would register and book plane tickets.
IF guys would equally lean into the men’s work and Hawaiian culture.
But we couldn’t shake the idea.
So we booked a property.
Spread the word far and wide.
And committed to the trail, no matter where it led us.
It watched you play with the seduction of safety / And the gray promises that sameness whid[ered , / Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent. / Wondered would you always live like this.
- John O’Donahue, “For A New Beginning”
What We Imagined:
5 days in November. The week before Thanksgiving.
A season of migration for humpback whales and albatross.
A season of warriors traditionally resting and playing.
A season of growing sea swells and surf.
Hiking 5+ miles a day. From shore to valleys to summits.
Camping at Holomua, an off-grid property that means “progress, to move forward”, residing in a valley next to the Kaukonahua River, the longest river on O’ahu, which served as a trading ‘highway’ for centuries long before the island was modernized.
Outrigger canoeing. Campfires. Forest reflections.
Communing with voyaging elders, big wave surfers, and organic farmers.
Purposefully coming together to do men’s work, walking shoulder-to-shoulder to explore each of our “Works > in > Progress”, one conversation and one trail at a time.
And forging of Ohana, a brotherhood, a crew, a community in the process.
Then the delight, when your courage kindled, / And out you stepped onto new ground, / Your eyes young again with energy and dream, / A path of plentitude opening before you.
- John O’Donahue, “For A New Beginning”
Mapping Out the Week:
Day 1: “The Edge of Arrival”
Fresh off planes, guys shuttle directly to the Ka’ena Point trailhead where we’d introduce our “Works > in > Progress” while hiking 5+ miles along the shoreline into the darkness before heading to Mohala, an organic farm founded by David Mark Hamamoto for an amazing dinner under a traditional hale.
Day 2: “Climbing into Perspective”
After settling in at our camp, we switchback climb high up the Kaelia Trail, looking far down upon the valley walls and shore that surrounded us the day before. We’d join ‘brother Elgin’ for beachside oven-fired, homemade ‘hemp’ pizzas before shuttling with famed big-wave surfer Mikey ‘Redd’ O’Shaunessey for a private tour of the centuries-old Kakokuwelowel navigator school.
Day 3: “Navigating by Inner Compass”
The day begins by honoring the legacy of Eddie Aikau (who’s globally renowned surf competition, The Eddy, is named after), walking the rocky and sandy coast from Waimea Beach to the famed surfing mecca of Ehukai Beach (aka “Pipeline”), spending the afternoon learning to outrigger canoe as a crew at the Manu O Ke Kai (“Bird of the Sea”) Outrigger Canoe Club, and feasting under the stars back at Holomua.
Day 4: “Taking the Long View”
A just-past-dawn departure from camp is followed by a long hill climb up to Laie Falls and back, spending an afternoon/sunset understanding the connection between kalo farming and Hawaiian culture with ‘brother Steven’ Bolosan at his Na Mea Kupono Farms and Learning Center, then closing the night eating under the hale at Mohala again.
Day 5: “Launching the Next Voyage”
The final morning we break camp and thank Holomua’s amazing leader Ann Yoshida, head out for a brunch feast, and finally gather where the Kaukonahua River meets the Pacific Ocean for our ‘closing circle’ whereupon each man is presented a custom paddle one-on-one reflections by another man who’s been his ‘silent observer’ for the week.
Photos Now, Reflections Later
Feel free to scroll below for photos from “The Voyage”.
They’ll have to serve now where my words are not yet able to.
We’ve been home for a week now.
Guys returned to families and work and holidays and life of all shades.
Settling in. Feeling unsettled. Finding clarity. Seeking answers.
Our 3-month (every-other-week) post-retreat virtual meetings have begun.
Friendships and Ohana deepening.
Our “Works > in > Progress” continue to shape shift.
Lessons and questions emerging.
The group text thread popping.
And I’m finally letting go after a year of daydreaming and planning and hoping.
Though your destination is not yet clear / You can trust the promise of this opening; / Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning / That is at one with your life’s desire.
- John O’Donahue, “For A New Beginning”
I’ll write more soon.
But for now, just a few photos.
Smiling at the experiences and stories and bonds they represent.
Feeling joy for all of it as a co-facilitator (and as another man on the trail).
Grateful for these [good]men:
Dan. Mason. Josh. Justin. Billy. Brian. Deron. Matt. Kevin. Beckett.
Inspired by these [good]men.
And forever changed by these [good]men.
Awaken your spirit to adventure; / Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk; / Soon you will home in a new rhythm, / For your soul senses the world that awaits you .
- John O’Donahue, “For A New Beginning”
Bonus: Father and Son
Feel beyond grateful to have shared “The Voyage” with my own 19yo son, Beckett, one of the eight [good]men who joined the crew from across the US and Canada.
Simply put, I’m a better man because of him.
Thank You
Appreciate you reading, subscribing to, and sharing this journal.
And please reach out to me at christian [@] bonfire-workshop [.] com to:
join [good]men on trail, in a retreat, in “City Walks”, etc.;
sign up for executive coaching sessions; or
collaborate to co-create experiences for others.
Cheers, Christian
P.S. “[good]men. | works.in.progress.” backstory can be read here.
And as always, you can subscribe — for free — to this journal here:
What a beautiful post with special photos. I love the John O'Donahue poem that you chose for the trip. So glad that all of your hard work paid off and that it was a special week for the group.