now is abilene. just left a heart circle with five other men where we shared ourselves intimately, talked openly about spirituality, sexuality, awakening, and joy. we talked about the second agreement, about not assuming and i had a moment when i realized that i had  assumed that there were no men in abilene who had my values or who would be wiling to open their hearts to this tired old queer. i was wrong! now i am sure that this journey is one of awakening for me, to undo the past hurts and to expand out of my heart toward others, some of whom might not seem to be ready or easy targets. blessed be.