life Archives - Page 2 of 10

Scene from a Garden – Tall Trees, High Kicks, and Low, Low Wages – Episode 163

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…

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What Is a Man, Anyway? Part 4 – Episode 158

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In the fourth part of his series on masculinity, Dara tries to point out the hierarchical nature of masculinity when the idea of manhood is being discussed. The legacy of Western European colonial domination has resulted in the idealisation of white, straight, middle class masculinity. In other words, for many people when they’re asked to consider men and masculinity, they will default to the aforementioned model. But where does that leave other iterations and expressions of masculinity?

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Time

Intentionality, Clarity, Self-Care, and The Belief in Positive Change – Episode 151

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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.

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Is That What You Believe? The Thoughts That Shape Our Reality – Episode 149

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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?

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Is It Okay to be Vulnerable? Yes, it is! – Episode 148

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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’.

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Understanding Brotherhood, or Why ‘Bro’ is not a Dirty Word! – Episode 146

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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 »

Was That Absolutely Necessary? or, Keeping Calm in an Age of Chaos! – Episode 145

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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.

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The Absolute ‘Ick’ Episode – Going Granular on My War with Myself – Episode 140

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In this very personal and occasionally difficult episode, Dara decides he can’t not examine his near four-decade-old impulse to destroy himself. A follow-on from last week’s episode in which he spoke more generally and euphemistically about a recent onset of anxiety-fuelled depression, this time he wants more transparency, more openness, more keeping it real. He understands that for some people this type of sharing gives them the ‘ick’, hence the title of the episode.

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Existential Framing: Pathways, Destinations, and Empty Spaces – Episode 139

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In this episode, Dara tries to remind himself of the existential power of understanding life as an unending path that leads to endless unknown destinations. In relation to a recent rough mental health episode, he is also happy to be reminded that the path of life will continue past the present moment, no matter how challenging it might be.

Existential Framing: Pathways, Destinations, and Empty Spaces – Episode 139 Read More »

life

Scene from a Garden – Tall Trees, High Kicks, and Low, Low Wages – Episode 163

What Is a Man, Anyway? Part 4 – Episode 158

Time

Intentionality, Clarity, Self-Care, and The Belief in Positive Change – Episode 151

Is That What You Believe? The Thoughts That Shape Our Reality – Episode 149

Is It Okay to be Vulnerable? Yes, it is! – Episode 148

Understanding Brotherhood, or Why ‘Bro’ is not a Dirty Word! – Episode 146

Was That Absolutely Necessary? or, Keeping Calm in an Age of Chaos! – Episode 145

The Absolute ‘Ick’ Episode – Going Granular on My War with Myself – Episode 140

Existential Framing: Pathways, Destinations, and Empty Spaces – Episode 139

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