In this episode, Dara is reflecting on the good fortune of finding a new place to live, but he is wondering how to refer to The ClearOut’s new home. His daughter has rejected his suggestions so far as being ‘too cringe’. Hashtag Blessed is no more! What to call the new abode…?
Set Down Your Honourable Load – Finding the Clear Path Ahead – Episode 167 Read More »
In this episode, Dara is wondering about what comes next. We can never truly know what lies in the future so how do we cope with that uncertainty? Are we willing to step into the unknown without the security of a plan? Do we trust we have the resources to deal with what we find?
The Existential Toolkit to Approaching the Unknown – Episode 164 Read More »
In this episode, Dara is taking time to express thanks to a place that has served him well over the last few years, and he’s so determined to do so in a special way that he moves the podcast to the location he’s honouring! At the end, when a certain flying creature appears, it’s time to bring things to a close. No, it’s not a dragon…
Scene from a Garden – Tall Trees, High Kicks, and Low, Low Wages – Episode 163 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 »
Dara has just turned 50, and in this episode he lets his mind hover over the moment in an attempted stocktake. Even as he argues for gratitude, he acknowledges how challenging the world is right now. This leads him to consider whether enough weight is attached to softer impulses and emotions. In these times of fracture and isolation and estrangement, should we attach greater significance and worthiness to love and positivity and connection?
Turning 50 – If I’m Calm, It’s the Jedi’s Fault! – Episode 138 Read More »
In this episode Dara reveals that he is unaccustomed to the comfort of pajamas. This fact is relevant to a very recent late-night incident that he shares. That same incident concluded with an inherent contradiction relating to the presence of both love and rejection.
Don’t Turn Off the Lights! or, Have You Made Room for Romance? – Episode 129 Read More »
In this pendulum swing of an episode, Dara is dancing between joy and pain. It is a journey that takes him from Ireland’s expulsion from the Rugby World Cup last week to the birth of his daughter 10 years ago.
In this episode, Dara talks about the affection for survival narratives and considers the respective legacies of the recently deceased singers and songwriters Tina Turner and Christy Dignam. He wonders whether we should be defined by what we’ve overcome in life. He also questions the value of legacy and argues for the need to be more concerned with our present-tense impact.
Survival, Transcendence, and the Myth of Whatever Doesn’t Kill You – Episode 108 Read More »
In this, the 100th episode of the show, Dara permits himself a stocktake. He reaffirms the recurring themes he has continued to weave through the podcast and examines what wellness with attitude means.
In this episode, prompted by Spike Lee’s He Got Game (1998), Dara examines his convictions as a parent, and recalls how an ill-fated Irish journalist helped him get comfortable with the idea of becoming a father to a daughter. He identifies a pillar of his parenting approach that he hopes he will manage to keep intact. He also looks at the idea of gender-neutral parenting, something he tries to adopt with his daughter.
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