vulnerability Archives - The ClearOut

All the Damaged Boys – Where’s the Love At? – Episode 197

In this episode, Dara is trying to get his head around the obnoxious appearance of Conor McGregor at the White House over St. Patrick’s Weekend. Trump’s presidency seems to function as a magnet for a particular type of male performance, greenlighting as it does a validated version of masculinity that revels in belittling others, trash talking enemies, and leering, swaggering braggadocio. It is definitely connected to a particular understanding of straight maleness as being under attack and needing to reassert itself as aggressively as possible. But is it also a product of the tech age when the perception of consequences has been skewed by the amount of time spent in online spaces?

All the Damaged Boys – Where’s the Love At? – Episode 197 Read More »

What Is a Man, Anyway? Part 5 – Episode 159

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In this final part of his series on masculinity, Dara tries to bring things to a reasonable end. He talks about his lifelong attempt to embody a particular type of masculinity that was a direct response to sexist and reductive attitudes to men that he was exposed to in youth and early adulthood.

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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’.

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

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 »

The Voice of Truth and Anguish – Saying Farewell to Sinead O’Connor – Episode 115

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In this episode, Dara takes his time to say goodbye to Sinead O’Connor and speaks of her relevance to him from the early days of her career right up to more recent times when life presented her with a terrible burden to bear. He includes a clip from Ep 34 of the show when he spoke about the death by suicide of her son in January 2022.

The Voice of Truth and Anguish – Saying Farewell to Sinead O’Connor – Episode 115 Read More »

Safety First! – The Benefits of Safe Places, Safe People, and a Safe You – Episode 105

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In this episode Dara looks at the idea of safety as a keystone of wellness. In particular he concentrates on environmental and interpersonal safety. This pertains to the places we live and the people we share our lives with. Are they safe? How do we understand and recognise safety? And why is it so important, anyway?

Safety First! – The Benefits of Safe Places, Safe People, and a Safe You – Episode 105 Read More »

The 100th Episode Stocktake, or Stick Your Teachable Moment Where the Sun Don’t Shine! – Episode 100

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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.

The 100th Episode Stocktake, or Stick Your Teachable Moment Where the Sun Don’t Shine! – Episode 100 Read More »

Foundational Beliefs of Identity and Gender-Neutral Parenting, or How I Got Cool With Being a Girl-Father! – Episode 99

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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.

Foundational Beliefs of Identity and Gender-Neutral Parenting, or How I Got Cool With Being a Girl-Father! – Episode 99 Read More »

Stirring the Masculinity Pot and Countering Dubious Male Voices – Episode 89

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In this episode, Dara is all stirred up as a result of the theatre production he is currently working on. The subject of the work is masculinity and the nurturing and shaping of boys into men. Dara admits that the process of examining this subject closely is leaving him exhausted but also inspired and full of almost uncontrollable thought processes and emotional impulses around what masculinity means to him

Stirring the Masculinity Pot and Countering Dubious Male Voices – Episode 89 Read More »

vulnerability

All the Damaged Boys – Where’s the Love At? – Episode 197

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

Safety First! – The Benefits of Safe Places, Safe People, and a Safe You – Episode 105

The 100th Episode Stocktake, or Stick Your Teachable Moment Where the Sun Don’t Shine! – Episode 100

Foundational Beliefs of Identity and Gender-Neutral Parenting, or How I Got Cool With Being a Girl-Father! – Episode 99

Stirring the Masculinity Pot and Countering Dubious Male Voices – Episode 89

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