I was 25 years old on November 21, 1969 when I held my first-born son, Jemal, in my arms shortly after he was born and made a vow that I would be a different kind of father than my father was able to be for me and to do everything I could to create a world where men were fully healed and engaged with their families throughout their lives. When our daughter Angela was born on March 22, 1972, I first became interested in ways boys and girls, males and females, were similar and also different. I soon launched MenAlive.com as my window to the world to share my books, articles, and online programs.

            My wife, Carlin, and I now have six grown children, seventeen grandchildren, and three great grandchildren. We quietly celebrated my eighty-first birthday on December 21, 2024. My commitment to the wellbeing of future generations continues and my work with boys and men has expanded. In 2019 I invited a number of colleagues who I knew were doing great work helping improve the lives of boys and men to join me in what I called a Moonshot for Mankind and Humanity.

            We soon started an organization, MoonshotforMankind.org, and I wrote a new book (my seventeenth), Long Live Men! The Moonshot Mission to Heal Men, Close the Lifespan Gap, and Offer Hope to Humanity. In the final chapter of the book, “Join Our Moonshot Mission For Mankind and Humanity,” representatives of the founding organizations shared their reasons for joining. The founding organizations and current co-founding organizations are:

As we begin 2025, it is clear to me that things are not going well in our world. Violence is on the rise, as is depression, addictive escapes, deaths of despair, and suicides. Our environmental life support system is on the brink of collapse. Yet warriors for the human spirit have always arisen at times of trouble when our families and communities are at risk. This is our time. Do you feel called to act?

I believe that males are both the “canaries in the coal mine” alerting us to the fact that we face a clear and present danger, as well as the hope for humanity. I am inviting a select group of men who are ready to join me on the hero’s journey of a lifetime—one where we heal ourselves as we commit to healing our families and communities.

            Hero’s journeys are never taken alone. They are too perilous, unpredictable, and likely to fail without a map, companions, and a guide.

            Your Map: I was blessed to join a men’s group that has been meeting regularly for 45 years. Over the years, we have developed a map that we’ve used to live fully, love deeply, and make a positive difference in the world. 

            Your Companions: A cohort of men who feel called at this time in their lives to join with other men to make this journey together.

            Your Guide: I have been a mentor to men, healer, and leader for more than fifty years. I am the author of 17 books on men’s mental, emotional, and relational health. I have earned a PhD in International Health and a master’s degree in social work and work with individuals and organizations throughout the U.S. and around the world.

The practice map I will share with you was first described in my book, The Warrior’s Journey Home: Healing Men, Healing the Planet, which was published in 1994. In work leading up to the book, I drew upon ancient wisdom about the true nature of  warriorship. Tibetan Buddhist master Chögyam Trungpa tells us, “The world is in absolute turmoil. These teachings are founded on the premise that there is basic human wisdom that can help solve the world’s problems. This wisdom does not belong to any one culture or religion, nor does it come only from the West or the East. Rather, it is a tradition of human warriorship that has existed in many cultures at many times throughout history.” 

            Chögyam Trungpa goes on to say, Warriorship here does not refer to making war on others. Aggression is the source of our problems, not the solution. Here the word ‘warrior’ is taken from the Tibetan pawo, which literally means ‘one who is brave.’ Warriorship in this context is the tradition of human bravery, or the tradition of fearlessness. The key to warriorship and the first principle of the  vision is not being afraid of who you are.”

The Real Problem With Men

            Many believe that the problem with men is that we are inherently destructive or unsuited to be successful in a world where physical strength is no longer necessary and relationship skills that women often possess are not natural to men.         These are mostly media myths.

            The real problem with men is that we have become disconnected from nature and disconnected from ourselves. We don’t know who we are and are afraid to find out. We may put on a good front, but deep inside many of us feel lost and alone. We act like adults, but inside we feel like perpetual Peter Pans who never grew up. We hunger for women, but also resent them because we feel so dependent. We know we need to grow up but don’t know where to go for mentoring.

            If this resonates with you, know you are not alone.

A Cohort Guided by Dr. Jed Diamond is Forming Soon.

The World Needs You. Your Families Need You. You Need You!

If you are a man and this resonates with you, I would like to hear from you. If you are a woman who knows a man you feel would be interested, please pass this invitation on to them. Women have their own work to do in these times of transformation and change. But men and women are in this world together and we need to support each other.

            Among the many colleagues who reviewed my book, The Warrior’s Journey Home, was my Aikido instructor and mentor Dr. Richard Strozzi Heckler, author of many books including In Search of the Warrior Spirit: Teaching Awareness Disciplines to the Military. He says, “Jed Diamond draws a compelling thread between the loss of our warrior values, the desecration of the planet, and our pervasive addictions. He then outlines a set of clear and pragmatic practices that can return us to a deeper connection to ourselves and the natural world.”

Here’s what you can expect when you join:

            We will meet for a free 2-hour mini-intensive (Date to be determined). You will learn about the three archetypal wounds that men have experienced: Shame, Betrayal, and Abandonment and the warrior practices that heal them: Honor, Loyalty, and Commitment. You will also learn about the cultural editors that perpetuate our wounding and cause us to disconnect from ourselves and to continually look for love in all the wrong places.

For those who decide to continue together, we will open our hearts and minds to each other, learn that we all have something to teach others and we all have something to learn, and we can commit to supporting each other on our individual and shared warrior’s journey home. I am still developing the program, but it will likely include these elements:

• Each week you will receive one of my lessons articles: “Life Lessons of an 81-Year-Old Men’s Health Maverick,” which will have two lessons I’ve learned that you can reflect upon and apply in your own life.

• There will be a dedicated community space where you can share your experiences, ask questions, and get support and feedback from the community.

• Once a month we will meet together. There will be a short talk with wisdom you can use, followed by discussion, sharing, and suggested “warrior practices” you can engage.

• Twice a month you will receive a video program with me in dialogue with some of the world’s leading experts on Gender-Specific Healing and Men’s Health including the following:

Mo Gawdat, Former Chief Business Officer at Google X, bestselling author of

                           Solve For Happy.

Marianne J. Legato, M.D., Founder Foundation for Gender-Specific Medicine,

                            author of Why Men Die First: How to Lengthen Your Lifespan        

David Katz, M.D., Founding Director of Yale University’s Prevention Research

                            Center and Senior Science Advisor to Blue Zones.

Riane Eisler, President and Founder of the Center for Partnership Systems, author

             of The Chalice & The Blade and Nurturing Our Humanity.

Richard V. Reeves, Founding President of the American Institute for Boys and Men,

                                                             author of Of Boys and Men.

Harville Hendrix & Helen LaKelly Hunt, Relationship experts, authors of Getting

                               The Love You Want and How to Talk with Anyone About Anything.

Dr. Jill Bolte-Taylor, Harvard-trained neuroscientist, author of My Stroke of Insight

                           and Whole Brain Living.                  

Dr. Warren Farrell, Author of The BoyCrisis and Role Mate to Soul Mate. 

Dr. Julia DiGangi, Neuropsychologist and author Energy Rising: The Neuroscience

                       of Leading with Emotional Power.

Shana James, Marriage and family therapist, author of Honest Sex who is rumored

                                to be “A blend of The Dalai Lama and Dr. Ruth.”  

Dr. Gary Barker, International voice for healthy manhood, gender equality and

violence prevention. CEO of Equimundo.  

Chip Conley, Co-founder and CEO of the Modern Elder Academy and author of

                       Learning to Love Midlife.                                

Dr. Margaret J. Wheatley, Author of Who Do We Choose to Be? Facing Reality,

                       Claiming Leadership, Restoring Sanity.

Ruth Whippman, Journalist, documentarian, and author of BoyMom: Reimagining

                       Boyhood in the Age of Impossible Masculinity                       

Michael Gurian, Journalist and bestselling author of 32 books including The

                                 Wonder of Boys and Boys: A Rescue Plan.

Kelly Wendorf, Author of Flying Lead Change: 56 Million Years of Wisdom for

                                  Leading and Living.                   

There are four pillars that support this healing journey: 

• Becoming your authentic self and being the best you that you can be.
• Learning to love yourself, your family, and your community, deeply and well.
• Embracing your calling and bringing your unique work to the world.
• Being a source of clarity and strength at this challenging time in human history.

If you would like to learn more, please drop me a note to [email protected] and put “MenAliveNow” in the subject line. I will send more information as soon as it is available. I also invite you to subscribe to my free weekly newsletter, if you haven’t already, to hear about my latest articles, announcements, and classes. https://menalive.com/email-newsletter/.