My students were leading us through their final mindfulness projects today. In one class, I had one young man present on compassion, because that was one of the most meaningful aspects of our class to him. He was followed by another young man who spoke on selflessness, and his desire to move past his selfishness—for us all to— in order to heal our world.

It did not strike me until this moment, 8:37pm in the evening, that it was a profound moment to have two teenage males leading discussions about matters of the heart. To have them earnestly discussing how they want to be compassionate, even towards those who wrong them, or overcome their self concern and give to the world.

How beautiful for them to be in a space where they could present and explore these ideas in front of their classmates. What if this is what we meant when we said, “boys will be boys?”