There is this Japanese saying, Ichigo Ichie, which means “Treasure every meeting, for it will never occur again.” This saying reminds me of The Men’s Group Singapore.
As of June 2019, I have attended eight meetups and I must say that every meetup is different. Even though we did similar things each time such as body check-ins, meditation, sharing and discussion, each time it felt different.
Sometimes, I felt the energy of love and connection in the room, while other times it was more fun and playful. And then, there were other times, where the discussion was a little too much for me that I started to space out or it left me a headache on my way back home.
You can’t predict where the evening is heading to. A lot depends on the participants, what they are sharing, the venue the meetup is held, and most importantly, the state you are in at that moment in time. So the meetup is unique each time.
I still remember the first Men’s Group meetup that I went. I was rather apprehensive as I didn’t know what to expect and who I will meet. But during the open floor discussion, one of the participants brought up the topic of loneliness which was exactly what I was thinking about at that time. The five of us took turns to share our deepest feelings without inhibitions and the discussion just grew beautifully on its own. It’s as though that by coming together, the group has created a sixth participant who has a life of its own.
During the first meetup, the host, Christophe, also mentioned that he doesn’t plan much for the meetup. Most of the times, it’s spontaneous. It depends on what the participants want to address and the energy in the room.
So I can’t tell you what to expect from this group. Ever since my first meetup, I learn to just go with the flow and come to the meetups without any expectations. But what I do want to say is to treasure every meeting, especially the ones that left a positive impact on you. That’s because you will never get back the exact same feeling in the future meetups.