2 weeks ago, I went to Marbella with this group of 20 men.
Different careers. Different businesses. Different pressures.
But for a few days, we had something that's becoming increasingly rare as we get older:
𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿.
Time to laugh and share experiences.
Have conversations that don't need to fit between meetings.
And it reminded me that perhaps one of the things men lose as we get older isn't friendship.
𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. Our circles get bigger. But meaningful conversations can become fewer.
We have hundreds of contacts. WhatsApp groups full of messages. LinkedIn networks with thousands of connections.
Yet how many people do we actually sit down with and talk to about:
Where life is going? What we're struggling with? What we've learnt?
𝗠𝗲𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. Not because something is wrong.
But because sometimes another man's experience gives you perspective on your own. Someone has already navigated the challenge you're facing.
Someone asks the question you've been avoiding. Someone sees something you can't. Someone simply gives you a different way of looking at things.
That's one of the things Marbella reinforced for me.
𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹.
When you don't just bring men together to get away from life... but to think more deeply about how they're living it.
That's what 𝘄𝗲'𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵 in the 𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗵𝗮 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁.
𝟭𝟰 𝗺𝗲𝗻. 𝟱 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀. 𝟭 𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮.
Men at a similar stage of life, deliberately stepping away from their normal environment to ask a bigger question.
𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝟭𝟬 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀?
And at the centre of those conversations will be something we recite every day, but rarely stop long enough to see as a framework for life:
𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗵 𝗮𝗹-𝗙𝗮̄𝘁𝗶𝗵̣𝗮.
7 verses. 7 powerful questions about how we're living and where we're going.
We'll pray together. Eat together. Reflect together. Laugh together. Walk the Atlas Mountains together.
And hopefully create the kind of conversations that are difficult to have in the middle of normal life.
Because I've come to believe there is something powerful about putting 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲, 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀.
That's the difference between a holiday and a retreat.
𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝘁.
𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗮̄𝘁𝗶𝗵̣𝗮 Marrakech | 5–9 November 14 men | Five days
