The actual distance between our head and our heart.  In reality, for me, it is separated by years and scars that runs deep in my soul.  I am not sure when it happened and whether it was one event or a series of things that I internalized?  My earliest memory of distancing myself from my feelings was when I was eight.  My parents were getting a divorce and it was extremely contentious.  My father refused to pay court ordered child support and that left us in desperate need.  My mom really worked really hard to keep food on our table, clothes on our back etc.  So, if we follow Maslow’s theory all my base needs were covered.  My safety needs were severely lacking.  I blamed myself for the divorce and because I didn’t have anyone to help me check story and the reality I was creating.  The story I was telling myself was that I was broken and unlovable, this was the reason for lack of provision and lack in general.  I spent decades detoxing this false story and learning to tell a more truthful one.  I remember in the midst of all of this time I was being bullied daily at school.  I was an awkward kid, tall and skinny and a bit of a book geek.  I felt powerless.  I have spent decades living my life like I was that eight or twelve year old kid.  The messages I heard during this time all revolves around what a “real” man looks like.  Nowhere in that definition were tears or emotions.  If I cried when I was being bullied, I was called a sissy or worse.  I had a realization years ago that I was not that child anymore and I have spent a lot of positive energy, prayer and meditation time integrating my life and learning to tell a different story.  I know is that I feel like I have lived my life with a twelve-inch gash in my soul.  Healing has been hard but worth it.  I had to dwell in the emotions and value them.  This gash created or was created by a devaluing of my emotions and elevating reason or intellect.  I have worked incredibly hard on honing my mind and detaching from my heart.  Messages I heard when I was younger, Men don’t cry or show emotion, Emotions can’t be trusted, I continue to hear today.  One of my therapists told me when I was younger that true healing will only happen in the context of relationships.  But most of my relationships were shallow because I refused to share the core of who I was. I was afraid if anyone saw the real me then I would be left out in the cold again.  I think one of the most insidious messages men are given is that vulnerability is a sign of weakness.  So, I never let anyone in.  I kept people at arms length and I simply reported on my life, I am not sure I really experienced my life sometimes.  I was so consumed with keeping up appearances and trying to manage my emotions, so that I did not look weak, that I showed up in relationships with my heart tied up in an inner room.  I rarely allowed myself to feel excited or sad or really anything for that matter.  How did that work out for you might ask?  Well for me it led to deep depression, shallow relationships and a lingering sadness.  But because I was operating with low emotional intelligence. I blamed everyone, every circumstance and every minute of my past.  I have felt like a caterpillar emerging from a chrysalis for years now but the last twelve months have been incredible.  I am experiencing more health and deep level of satisfaction in my life; I feel like I am beginning to flourish.  I have surrounded myself with a group of men and women that are like mirrors for my soul.  They hold space for me and allow me to struggle out of a feeling of lack to a reality of abundance.  As I started walking in health my vision of a preferred future began to emerge.  That reality was one where I was living out my values and convictions on a daily basis.  And as I lived them out, I was able to serve others and help them achieve levels of health and wholeness.  Recently, I started a coaching business so that I can help others achieve new levels of health and wholeness.  The coaching business is called Project Roots and Wings.  We want to see you rooted in the true knowledge of who you TRULY are.   It is this knowledge that we believe serves as a prerequisite of soaring into health and wholeness on n