Homosocial Love
Hey beautiful people,
I have been slowly uploading videos onto the YouTube channel. There is a backlog of 30. Going to try to crush it tomorrow.
Tomorrow’s events:
Metagame Mastermind w/ Daniel Kazandjian. Every Saturday @ 6:00 PM ET. RSVP here.
Freestyling Through a Pandemic w/ Tyson Wagner. Every Saturday @ 8:00 PM ET. RSVP here.
***
May 8, 2020
It is probably obvious by now that I am very inspired, especially on a romantic and sexual level, by women. And, most centrally, I am loving the inspiration I am getting from my wife right now, and she knows why. These days we are a little sweet and a little dirty, but it feels as if we were going back to the start and falling in love all over again.
But is this not another love letter to the feminine or to women or to my woman or about any lonesome friendships I may have. I've written too much about that already. I want to talk about my love of men now. So this is going to be a homosocial love letter about my male friendships, many of which are rich, beautiful, and rewarding. I am very grateful to have so much awesome platonic male companionship in my life.
I'll start with brother Daniel, because, of all my brothers, he has the capacity to understand me the most. We used to belong to a bi-weekly Circling group here in Toronto, along with Johnny V, Lubomir, and Jasna. While we connected with everyone in the group, there were times when it seemed as if Daniel and I were like existential foreigners to the others, given our Stoic philosophy, which gives us a handsome handle on our emotions.
Another reason I started with Daniel is because I believe I took him for granted as a friend. I am a fucking exhausting person to be in a relationship with. Somebody please give this man a friendship metal. I’ve apologized to him already for this, and we asynchronously cried together over text, but apologizing again publicly feels right: I am sorry, my dear friend. We already level-set on a theory as to why I took you for granted, but my sense is that it mostly has to do with your sovereign as fuck disposition, which is Stoically delicious.
Daniel, we are brothers in virtue and in truth and we are on the hunt for beauty together, and I love you.
Christoph, you madman. If I had to choose to go on an adventure with anyone, it would be with you. Our backpacking adventures across Europe were legendary and you are legendary. We will be old perverts together, doing a disservice to our livers in random cities, where languages are spoken that we do not speak. Needless to say, what happened in Dublin stays in Dublin.
Davood, you’ve been here from the beginning, giving me words of support, and putting me and us at the edge of brotherhood. You have the talent stack of a true philosopher and the soul of a poet, who is always secretly in love.
Siavash, you sweet innocent man! I want to howl like an animal that went extinct long ago when I think about the spiritual feels you give me.
Andrew, my mentor, my brother, my favorite Jesus lookalike. You are brilliant and it feels like an insulting understatement to say something cliched such as I would not be here without you, but it’s so fucking true.
Lubomir, your spiritual and parapolitical sensitivities introduced me to worlds beyond those my normie programming could even fathom. You’re not only my brother, but you represent the archetype of the ideal brother, one of whom I often feel unworthy.
Khalil, you have been a loyal and encouraging friend, and I'd pay good money to witness your wild and unusual mind. What a gift it is that you’ve let me see it in action for free.
Phil, your earnest hustle for a better world inspires me, you embody the essence of a true friend and I am grateful to have you in my life.
Sean, if I ever masturbate about a man again, it will be about you, because that would be the closest thing to masturbating about myself.
Johnny V, it has been such a treat researching psychotechnologies with you, as if we were two para-academic cowboys in the philosophical wild west. I am absolutely committed to awakening the world from the meaning crisis with you, as your overeager thumos filled sidekick, one dialogos at a time.
Jordan, your mentorship and generalship have been invaluable. I enjoy you, I appreciate you and I love you. When Sartre met Che Guevara, he said that he was "not only an intellectual but also the most complete human being of our age.” I am no Sartre, but I’d say the same about you. You are a sensemaking mensch.
David, I am so glad you witnessed me break down and cry about my father like a lost little boy during your crazy holotropic breathing exercise. You are a brother and my favorite holy journalist. I just want to say: keep going!
Alexander, you holy trickster. I see your genius and I want to tickle it. When we first spoke, you said I was going to be a brilliant philosopher. I thought you were crazy, but now that I have gone crazy myself, I am finally starting to believe you.
To my podcasting meta-tribe: Daniel, Jason, Jared, Collin, Tim … us guys at the Kegan level where you stop giving a shit about Kegan levels … I LOVE YOU!!!!
And to the new friends that I have made via the Stoa: Tyson, AJ, Nicolas, Niklas, Ari, Christopher. I am grateful to have you in my life and I am eager to fight and dance and freestyle, shamelessly alongside you all during this liminal war.
There is more, and there will be more. And, yes, it is true, I think I have good homosocial game, but I sense that the main reason for this is because I desire philia with all my heart.
I had a perfect insight yesterday: I love virtue more than I could love any woman. And to all brothers, present and future, I deeply desire to be your brother in virtue.
***
Gift Economy / The Stoa currently operates through a gift economy. We are offering the Stoa as a gift, for people to freely use during these troubled times. If you are inspired to provide a gift to The Stoa, email thestoa at protonmail dot com. Your gift can take the form of money, support, services or ideas. If you wish to gift money, you can do so here or here for ongoing gifts.
bly obvious by now that I am very inspired, especially on a romantic and sexual level, by women. And, most centrally, I am loving the inspiration I am getting from my wife right now, and she knows why. These days we are a little sweet and a little dirty, but it feels as if we were going back to the start and falling in love all over again.
But is this not another love letter to the feminine or to women or to my woman or about any lonesome friendships I may have. I've written too much about that already. I want to talk about my love of men now. So this is going to be a homosocial love letter about my male friendships, many of which are rich, beautiful, and rewarding. I am very grateful to have so much awesome platonic male companionship in my life.
I'll start with brother Daniel, because, of all my brothers, he has the capacity to understand me the most. We used to belong to a bi-weekly Circling group here in Toronto, along with Johnny V, Lubomir, and Jasna. While we connected with everyone in the group, there were times when it seemed as if Daniel and I were like existential foreigners to the others, given our Stoic philosophy, which gives us a handsome handle on our emotions.
Another reason I started with Daniel is because I believe I took him for granted as a friend. I am a fucking exhausting person to be in a relationship with. Somebody please give this man a friendship metal. I’ve apologized to him already for this, and we asynchronously cried together over text, but apologizing again publicly feels right: I am sorry, my dear friend. We already level-set on a theory as to why I took you for granted, but my sense is that it mostly has to do with your sovereign as fuck disposition, which is Stoically delicious.
Daniel, we are brothers in virtue and in truth and we are on the hunt for beauty together, and I love you.
Christoph, you madman. If I had to choose to go on an adventure with anyone, it would be with you. Our backpacking adventures across Europe were legendary and you are legendary. We will be old perverts together, doing a disservice to our livers in random cities, where languages are spoken that we do not speak. Needless to say, what happened in Dublin stays in Dublin.
Davood, you’ve been here from the beginning, giving me words of support, and putting me and us at the edge of brotherhood. You have the talent stack of a true philosopher and the soul of a poet, who is always secretly in love.
Siavash, you sweet innocent man! I want to howl like an animal that went extinct long ago when I think about the spiritual feels you give me.
Andrew, my mentor, my brother, my favorite Jesus lookalike. You are brilliant and it feels like an insulting understatement to say something cliched such as I would not be here without you, but it’s so fucking true.
Lubomir, your spiritual and parapolitical sensitivities introduced me to worlds beyond those my normie programming could even fathom. You’re not only my brother, but you represent the archetype of the ideal brother, one of whom I often feel unworthy.
Khalil, you have been a loyal and encouraging friend, and I'd pay good money to witness your wild and unusual mind. What a gift it is that you’ve let me see it in action for free.
Phil, your earnest hustle for a better world inspires me, you embody the essence of a true friend and I am grateful to have you in my life.
Sean, if I ever masturbate about a man again, it will be about you, because that would be the closest thing to masturbating about myself.
Johnny V, it has been such a treat researching psychotechnologies with you, as if we were two para-academic cowboys in the philosophical wild west. I am absolutely committed to awakening the world from the meaning crisis with you, as your overeager thumos filled sidekick, one dialogos at a time.
Jordan, your mentorship and generalship have been invaluable. I enjoy you, I appreciate you and I love you. When Sartre met Che Guevara, he said that he was "not only an intellectual but also the most complete human being of our age.” I am no Sartre, but I’d say the same about you. You are a sensemaking mensch.
David, I am so glad you witnessed me break down and cry about my father like a lost little boy during your crazy holotropic breathing exercise. You are a brother and my favorite holy journalist. I just want to say: keep going!
Alexander, you holy trickster. I see your genius and I want to tickle it. When we first spoke, you said I was going to be a brilliant philosopher. I thought you were crazy, but now that I have gone crazy myself, I am finally starting to believe you.
To my podcasting meta-tribe: Daniel, Jason, Jared, Collin, Tim … us guys at the Kegan level where you stop giving a shit about Kegan levels … I LOVE YOU!!!!
And to the new friends that I have made via the Stoa: Tyson, AJ, Nicolas, Niklas, Ari, Christopher. I am grateful to have you in my life and I am eager to fight and dance and freestyle, shamelessly alongside you all during this liminal war.
There is more, and there will be more. And, yes, it is true, I think I have good homosocial game, but I sense that the main reason for this is because I desire philia with all my heart.
I had a perfect insight yesterday: I love virtue more than I could love any woman. And to all brothers, present and future, I deeply desire to be your brother in virtue.
***
Gift Economy / The Stoa currently operates through a gift economy. We are offering the Stoa as a gift, for people to freely use during these troubled times. If you are inspired to provide a gift to The Stoa, email thestoa at protonmail dot com. Your gift can take the form of money, support, services or ideas. If you wish to gift money, you can do so here or here for ongoing gifts.