Menfolk Journeys

Are there specific, precise, lodged-in-your-memory moments in your life that completely changed the direction of your thinking, your purpose, your entire way of living? Do you have a time that totally shifted your perspective on what you considered to be your reality? Michael Tierno had a revelatory moment in his adulthood that changed the way he thought of, well, EVERYTHING. And then, he pursued...

What happens when you decide to dismantle your own life, because it wasn't working for you? Do you have the courage to deconstruct...and then rebuild?  Can you look around your life and - if it's not what you want from it - begin again? Do you have the courage to do so? So often, people fall into a track that doesn't suit their happiness...but they stay on it because it's safe,...

Why do so many men struggle with communication...especially in their intimate relationships?  Oftentimes, men find it more uncomfortable to share feelings and thoughts than just about anything else...but that skill is the key to having more open, honest, and authentic connections. The ability to have those kinds of conversations and relationships isn't just something a few lucky men were born...

Addiction comes in many ways and forms...and the most pernicious of all are addictions that are Anonymous, Affordable, and Accessible.  Unfortunately, with today's technologies, pornography checks all of those addiction boxes. And for young men, it can be an absolute trap that causes real harm - not only for themselves, but for their relationships. Jeremy experienced this addiction himself......

It's one thing to be a coach and help your athletes overcome challenges, injury, setbacks, and mental blocks. It's another thing to be a coach and have to overcome your own adversity - even your own disability. Scott was disabled in his early twenties...right when he was beginning a coaching career. He had to learn how to not just push past his challenge, but finally acknowledge his disa...

How can you reconcile your memories of your father, when doing so becomes painful, embarrassing, and leaves you with a feeling of loss? Patton has had to think about his sonhood experiences with his alcoholic father, and the destructive wake he grew up in.  It wasn't until he was older and became his own father that he dedicated time, heart, and energy to writing down his own reflections and...

As a young man, Anthony embraced his natural surroundings in Appalachia, paying attention to the workings of the world. With family around him, and a model of manhood in his grandfather, he grew up in a place where he knew he belonged. A career in the USAF, flying combat missions, put him in situations where he had to depend on his team and others, and they on him, for survival. How does that affe...

The Hero's Journey is generally, in broad strokes, thought of as Joseph Campbell's archetype of a single person going into the Wilderness, encountering the Challenge, overcoming the Challenge, and becoming Transformed in the process. Then the Hero can bring the newly-earned wisdom and experience back to the Tribe. Lyubim's journey follows that structure, where he became something mo...

What does it mean to be Lionhearted? How can you be - as a man - a Warrior, Lover, King, and Hero? And, what do those archetypes actually mean in terms of building ourselves? And, when you’re raised to be quiet, small, and unassuming, what happens when you realize that you’re bigger, bolder, and stronger than you thought? Eric Rogell’s journey is about finding true strength of being. Understanding...

No one knows what kind of experiences change how we think about our Faith. It's private, individual, and can't be thought of as a common experience. Chris want to West Point with a plan of being a soldier, then a chaplain. A goal to become a spiritual healer and leader amongst his bretheren. But how can you be a spiritual leader if your own Faith is being questioned? How do you reconcile...

The Foster Care experience is referred to - by the kids who live it - as "The System." For the youth who are doing the best they can to live their life, The System can be filled with strangeness, uncertainty, and above all, the feeling like they lack any power or control over their own lives. Josh went through The System, and at an incredibly vulnerable time, was homeless for half a year...

Laying down a foundation for your life - something upon which to build an ethical, moral, and livable framework - might be one of the most important things we do. How will I treat others? What do I value? What's important to me? How do I see myself? How can I become a better person? These are all the best questions to ask. And without a foundation, these questions get more difficult to answer...

Living a life that guided by Faith is rare. And, building a profession from a foundation of Faith is even rarer, unless you become a church leader. Matthew is not a church leader, but he is a learned scholar of Christian works by St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Francis de Sales, and more.  And what he brings to the conversation - to living - is a clear-eyed understanding of how he views our dance with the...

What does it mean to have a relationship with money?  We attach such deep emotion, anxiety, and energy to the idea of money in our personal lives, and in the world itself. We think about money in terms of status, livelihood, material comfort, risk, and more, and sometimes fail to see it clearly. And, how do men deal with their own emotions about money? And is that changing? This conversation goes...

If you have the gift of performance, and are inspired to pursue a career...do you go for it? Do you really dive in and make it happen? Or, do you tuck it away and go for a safer pathway? Troy Horne decided to stay true to himself, and lean in to a path of performance...and all that goes with it.  The heartpouring of emotion and talent to be under the biggest, beautiful lights of Broadway, the prof...

No one said that relationships were easy. And, growing up, we only have the models around us to see how to have successful - or unsuccessful - relationships. Of course, we learn as we have more experience, and figure out what works or doesn't work. But we oftentimes fail to communicate well, or even know what we want to say. Even with spouses, children, good friends - those closest to us - we...

When you have dyslexia, not only can you be challenged by reading, but you can also become beset with anxiety, feelings of being stupid, and all of the embarrassment that comes with those years. And, when you know you're smart, imagine how frustrating that must be. Mike Wood lived that childhood, and had negative imprints imposed on him while he was growing up. But, he learned, later in life,...

When your entire life seems to crumble in a succession of calamities, and the building that had been your identity is decimated, how do you rebuild? What kinds of tools do you have to create a new identity? What do you want to bring with you that you've already had? What do you want to let go?  Jonathon Aslay completely rebuilt his life in his 40's, and has had a profound journey of disc...

This is a conversation about an epic man's journey from poverty to salvation.   From time immemorial, we have spoken about the Hero going into the Wilderness, about facing the ghosts that haunt us, about finding Grace in the moments of our darkest despair. This is a story of such a hero. Rand Timmerman was born into a life where he felt "doomed to poverty," and found a path out by s...

Do you have moral or ethical pillars that hold up the house of your life? Have you been able to live in a way that upholds your values? And, do you know what your values actually are? Mark's conversation explores how spending time on a farm creates an understanding and appreciation of the complexity of nature, and the simplicity of its lessons. And, we talk about how those lessons can help us...

What makes a strong man? His body? His mind? His convictions? His resilience? His fortitude? Ken was born into a cradle of love and community, and lived a vigorous, athletic youth. Then, in a moment of college football, he suffered a damaging injury, irrevocably paralyzing him from the shoulders down. Undaunted, he continued on...earning his degree, multiple Master's degrees, a JD, and went o...

What does it mean to be a successful man?  Whose definition do you follow? Yours? Someone else's? Justin has a beautiful and unique answer to what makes a man successful. He's arrived at this over the course of a life that started with an innate confidence that he could figure stuff out, and that he could make a life that was his own. From starting out independently at 17 to raising 3 yo...

When do we hit our prime? Is it twenty-five? Fifty-five? Why not seventy-four? Don Akchin hit a slump three years after he retired from his career, only to bounce back with more energy and positive force as a strong 74-year-old. His book - The AfterWork: Finding Fulfilling Alternatives to Retirement - is not only a guide for new retirees, but also a life-line for him. He has chosen to embrace the...

When your life literally depends on your ability to be aware, present, and perceptive, you'd better learn how to do that extremely well. But what if that skill needs to be developed? Or, what if you have it - innately - and it can be cultivated to a master-level degree? Pete Turner is an incredibly perceptive man. He's also a fan of The Muppet Show, which immediately puts him in great st...

Can men be strong and humble? Can men be physically capable, even dangerous, yet be voluntarily in control? Can men strive to excel while embracing failure and discomfort? Can a man learn and grow from stress? Bryce Eddy introduces me to the term Hormesis, which, biologically, is based on the idea that small amounts of positive stress can unlock adaptive response and growth that improves health an...