In this episode, Dara responds to a confronting conversation about the podcast that raised issues of self-worth, purpose, and the validity of the podcast itself. He looks at the specific criticism levelled at the show and what he does on it and makes a case for the defence. In a broader sense he looks at situations of personal conflict and how to remove emotion from the equation in order to view things more dispassionately.
Drawing on his martial arts background, he talks about embracing the contradictory impulses of hyper-vigilance and total ease. He describes the process he works through each week on the podcast as being akin to a longitudinal study. It’s a rolling experiment with the terms of which he is very comfortable. Part of that comfort means making an accommodation with vulnerability and feelings that have the potential to lead him astray on any given week. He advocates for ‘following the thought’ as a means to deepen understanding of impulses and reactions.
On the subject of credibility in general, and his in particular, Dara looks at his personal philosophy of committing to patterns and routines, and the credibility that is tethered to functional consistency. While not a contrarian, he admits to the questioning of institutions and conferring bodies and explains why that is the case. Ultimately, his belief resides in the doing of things that come from a place of authentic intention. The value of how that is received by others is not for him to say.