I never understood why so many men associate with imagery of predatory animals. My idealized version of my own masculinity is best represented by a tree. Patient. Immensely endurant. Self-sufficient. Unbothered by trivial, ephemereal affairs. Innately kind to the world around it. I don't want to be a lion or a wolf or a shark, I want to be an ancient oak whose branches have sheltered countless birds and squirrels.