In this episode, Dara is reflecting on the overnight passing of two of the animal members of the Hashtag Blessed family. It reminds him of a key moment from the iconic TV show The Sopranos which centred on the idea of a changing world that couldn’t be controlled. The idea of chaos and disorder prompting a desire for control feels like a very present concern.
Dara begins this episode by sharing his go-to recipe for making cheesecake, raspberry cheesecake, specifically. Don’t ask why – it just felt like the right thing to do. Perhaps he was trying to flaunt his ‘new man’ credentials in advance of discussing male attitudes to high-profile, successful women in the not-so-distant past.
In this episode, Dara is doing what he thinks he should have done last week; namely, reflect on the throughline of one hundred and fifty episodes of the podcast. His mission statement from the original blog iteration of The ClearOut in 2013 remains just as relevant over 10 years later – Decluttering. Clarifying. Connecting. Those three imperatives continue to assert themselves on the weekly attempt to offer something of use to the listener. They, attached to an eye-rolling scepticism about toxic positivity, are at the heart of the podcast’s subheading – Wellness with Attitude.
Intentionality, Clarity, Self-Care, and The Belief in Positive Change – Episode 151 Read More »
In this 150th episode, Dara decides not to lean into what makes the show what it is, but rather opts for the easy entertainment of the career of Tom Cruise. A recent rewatch of Top Gun Maverick prompted the question – what is it about Tom Cruise that audiences continue to buy? What is it about that smile, and that ever-young body?
40 Years of Winning and Grinning – The Tom Cruise Episode! – Episode 150 Read More »
In this episode, Dara once again finds himself considering his mental health battles. Emerging from a very recent depression, he examines the difference in his thinking when he is embattled versus when he is well. Why would he choose to believe one reality and not the other? Why, in spite of very persuasive negative thoughts, does his ‘better’ self prevail? And why does he compare these differing states and beliefs to acting reviews?
Is That What You Believe? The Thoughts That Shape Our Reality – Episode 149 Read More »
In this episode, Dara wants to know what vulnerability looks like. He talks about his own sense of feeling vulnerable at this time in his life and tries to contextualise that feeling in terms of age, time spent, and time left. He also reflects on fear, threat identification, and the conviction that one can be ‘got’.
Is It Okay to be Vulnerable? Yes, it is! – Episode 148 Read More »
In this episode, Dara is looking at life stories. Prompted by a project of his own that he is working on, he acknowledges the difficulties he finds himself facing before discussing several different lives that he has just consumed in artistic form.
That’s Not My Life! or, The Elusive Human Study – Episode 147 Read More »
In this episode, Dara is scratching his head over the idea of brotherhood. One of four sons, he feels he has a reasonably reliable perspective on his own experience of brotherhood, one he admits was not, nor continues to be, straightforward.
Understanding Brotherhood, or Why ‘Bro’ is not a Dirty Word! – Episode 146 Read More »
In this episode, Dara is rolling over some recent themes. He is convinced that cultivated internal calmness is a key part of responding healthily to the chaos of the world. When he talks about the importance of a ‘proportional response’ to whatever afflicts us, he acknowledges the connection of that idea to the philosophy of traditional martial arts practice. The implication of control is central to that idea and it is why Dara doesn’t have a lot of love for UFC competition, where that restraint is often disregarded.
Was That Absolutely Necessary? or, Keeping Calm in an Age of Chaos! – Episode 145 Read More »
In this episode Dara tries to understand the connection between the advancement of AI-generated images and his desire for the simplicity and austerity of certain places and practices. There is something about the ornate and ostentatious perfection of AI images that reminds him of the roots of the Protestant movement as a response to the grotesque greed and riches of the Catholic Church.
Take Me To Church, or The Honesty of a Good Punch – Episode 144 Read More »
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