Post Traumatic Macho Disorder: The Way Home

“Hi, And, thank you for opening this book. So why did I write it, and why call it Post Traumatic Macho Disorder...or....PTMD? The short answer......because we live in a world...which...while it is filled with all kinds of beauty......is also equally....crazy...pathetic, dangerous, sick. I need to get this out.........the hurt...the frustration...the rage...at this blight of macho-ism...on our selves and our world. The shorter answer...... ..Whenever I've acted all macho....it's never, ever felt right.....and I know it disrespected me..and the other. The shortest answer.....I need to get this out of me.........the hurt...the frustration...the rage...at this blight of macho-ism...on our selves and our world. While I'm not the smartest apple on the tree....I do know one thing for sure.....this macho stuff....is not only a great obstacle to our most happy and healthy.....thriving existence......it is also ….. literally ….killing us!!! Some definitions of macho from the American Dictionary, are “super strong and powerful, forceful, hyper sexual, showing no emotion /determined to not show weakness (or vulnerability), more on this later),....”He's too macho to admit he was hurt by his girlfriend leaving him”....or...”too macho to admit a woman can do a job as well as he can.” These are just a couple of examples of the dehumanization of us men...that hurts us...and prevents us from being are best, most loving selves. ~ ...To repeat.....this degrading macho mentality...is the main threat to our well-being... for each of us........and to the well-being of our children, our childrens' children for as long as it continues...or til we finally succeed in destroying our planet. ...I'm sick of all this macho crap....inside me ….and All of Us.....Since the Beginning. It's all a front...a sham...a lie.....it's not who we really are....we just learned it ….use it... to try and feel a little better about ourselves. ~~ ...And while it has it's main origins in us men...........and predominantly still lies within us.... let's not make any mistake here.................. …...macho is no respecter of gender.....or sexual orientation, class etc. Women... (Everyone)......can be all macho too... as we all want to feel good about our selves, and we all want, and of course, deserve, to be treated right, and deserve an “equitable” piece of the pie..etc... ...The good news!.....All the toxic, debilitating, life threatening “isms”....racism....sexism.....homophobia....classism.....xenophobia.....and on and on.....that so diminish each of us.....can be healed when we expose the macho which lives inside each of us..... …..When we figure out what we Really need to help us to feel....safe, secure, whole, worthy, comforted, nurtured, accepted, appreciated, respected, cared for, then we can stop the disrespectful macho front, and safely return home to our most beautiful authentic selves. This is a very personal book, of short essays, poems, stories, and other pieces... that gets to the “heart” of the macho....and offers a healing path for the future. While you will likely find some of it to be troubling..........I am confident that you will also find most of it to be supportive, encouraging, comforting, ….freeing, empowering, and life-affirming. And thank you again..... for being brave enough... and caring enough... to give it a try In Support Of Our Loving World, Roberto”