Basecamp for Men E59: Mental Health for Men

E59: Mental Health for Men with Special Guest Frank King

 

E59 Introduction-

The topic of mental health and better self-care for men is one that is near and dear to me. For 7 out of 10 suicides are by men, many middle-aged men who can so easily find themselves in a place of quiet desperation.

Most men, if they are paying attention, will arrive at a “dark night of the Soul”. A time in their lives when everything seems to fall apart. This is mythical and archetypal and part of any authentically lived life.

It takes a particular courage to descend for descending feels terrifying. It feels like you are not in control anymore and YOU ARE NOT. Larger forces are at work, testing the Hero. Yet, every Hero’s Journey  has a descent before redemption and ascension and return to the village. This is true on a macro level (humanity and the planet) as well as on a micro level (your life).

This episode is dedicated to the brave Souls who have experienced this dark night of the Soul. Both the ones that made it back to us and the ones that did not.

My guest today is someone who made it back and is sharing his wisdom, humor, and insights so that others may recognize their own path back to health and life.

 

Frank King Bio-

Frank King is a Suicide Prevention speaker and Trainer was a writer for The Tonight Show for 20 years. He’s fought a lifelong battle with Major Depressive Disorder and Chronic Suicidality, something that runs in his family. He turned this dark night of the soul into five TEDx Talks and shares his lifesaving insights on Mental Health Awareness with associations, corporations, and colleges.

A Motivational Public Speaker, he believes that where there is humor there is hope, where there is laughter there is life, nobody dies laughing. The right person, at the right time, with the right information, can save a life.

E59 Final Thoughts

I love how authentic Frank is. We need more men in the world that can speak truth to men and mental health. Especially ones that have been down in the darkness, found their way back to the Light, and commit to helping others do the same. For more information on Frank or to hire him to do one of his excellent, funny talks on mental health, go to www.thementalhealthcomedian.com

 

Basecamp for Men E58: ”Why Do Men Do This?”

E58: “Why Do Men Do This?”

Part 2 of the Jeff Perera interview

 

E58 Introduction

Well we are cooking along with season two here. Some of our upcoming episodes will have us talking with my good friend Jon Wilson about how to live a mythic life. We’ll also be talking with comedian and Tonight Show writer Frank King about mental health for men. We’ll have episodes coming up about archetypes and how to work with them and we‘ll catch up with another futurist about navigating these strange times with wisdom and vision.

If you have a guest you would like to have on Basecamp, an author or thought leader or someone you heard on another podcast, feel free to reach out to me at tony@basecampformen.com and give me your recommendation. I love getting these and they sometimes end up with your guest being on the show. In which case I will give you a personal shout out and thank you in the episode!

Well, as promised, here is part two of my interview with our friend Jeff Perera. Jeff and I look at some of the questions that we get asked about men. Why do men send dick pics? Why do men react with rage so often when they get triggered? And a couple of others. As two men that write on male psychology and the of the inner lives of men, I thought you might find it interesting to hear our takes on some of these. We also pay homage to the great Mohammed Ali.

Here is part two of my interview with our friend Jeff Perera.

 

Basecamp for Men E57: Do We Need the State?

E57: Do We Need the State?

with Special Guest Gregory Sams

 

E57 Introduction

Today’s guest reminds me of a Paul Arden quote.

Paul said, “Making the safe decision is dull, predictable and leads nowhere new. The problem with making sensible decisions is that so is everyone else. The unsafe decision (or the Hero’s Journey) causes you to think and respond in a way you hadn‘t thought of. It will take you to a place where others only dream of being.”

We need to give ourselves permission to explore new ideas about all sorts of things. This is how we grow. Radical ideas really shouldn’t scare us off. At least not before we have explored them and their possibilities.

Ideas that seemed too radical even 10 years ago suddenly are on the table and seem more plausible, doesn’t that often seem to be the case? Can you dear listener explore things without quickly and completely dismissing them? Can you turn over an idea and let it perculate in your sub-conscious mind without having your conscious mind slam the door on it. Give this a go and see what you find out.

Gregory Sams Bio-

My guest today is a cultural change agent Gregory Sams. Gregory is a fractal artist, social thinker, author of both The State is Out of Date and Sun of gOd. He is also a publisher, inventor and the creator of the veggie burger.

 E57 Final Thoughts-

I hope you enjoyed our conversation as much as I did. I absolutely love people who take the road-less travelled and lead an adventurous life. Gregory certainly fits the bill. I will think of Gregory from now on whenever I eat a veggie burger, or contemplate a world with no top-down hierarchy. Thank you for joining us listeners and we’ll see you next week.

Basecamp for Men E56: Radio Q & A with author Tony Rezac

E56: Radio Q & A with author Tony Rezac

 

E56 Introduction

Welcome to Basecamp for Men and episode 56. I can’t believe my excellent sound editor Chris Rodd and I have already done 56 of these! What a fun creative project this has been.

Last year, I did a Radio program called Life Mastery Radio with Todd Alan and Debby Handrich. I thought you might like the conversation. We talk all about the Hero’s Journey, why we do men’s work, and I even take a couple of good call in questions from listeners. I would like to thank Todd and Debby for having me on their show. It was super fun.

Lastly, if any of you listeners are looking to get into one of my online men’s groups in 2021, reach out to me through my website at www.basecampformen.com. You can sign up for the newletter there. We’ll be putting these together in the fall  and we would love to see you in 2021.

And here’s this weeks episode. Enjoy!

Basecamp for Men E55: The Measure of Men

E55: The Measure of Men with Jeff Perera

 

E55 Introduction

What is the current measure of a man? We have all grown up with all sorts of cultural imprints around this. The macho tough guy. The stud athlete. The alpha male and high-achiever and blah, blah, blah. I’m so bored with these guys.

And to a certain extent, we have all been asked to accept that the measure of a man is about his status and how much money he brings in. What sort of house he lives in or what kind of family he comes from. Everything is meant to put you in some sort of imaginary pecking order.

But things are changing. The conversations that men are having ABOUT men is taking how we measure ourselves into a new arena. One with more heart and soul and more breathing room for all of us. The new measure doesn’t exclude the high-status former alpha male. It’s just requiring him to right-size his ego and stop making everything about him and his image.

We have outgrown the old measure. This much is clear. The new measure will show that men are capable of a lot more than just being status ponies.

I’m excited to talk to my guest today as he is an expert on the inner lives of men and is helping to create this new measure that I am speaking of.

Jeff Perera Bio-


Jeff Perera has been speaking for over 12 years to audiences and teams across North America about men helping end gender-based violence, modelling healthy ideas of manhood, and empathy-building. Jeff started HigherUnlearning.com to explore how ideas of manhood impact all of us. Jeff has delivered two TEDx talks and contributes opinion pieces for Huffington Post.