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.

 

Basecamp for Men E54: Educating Our Boys

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E54: Educating Our Boys with Special Guest Jennifer Fink   E54 Introduction Currently there is a sea change happening in how we educate our boys. Brought on by this pandemic, parents are looking at alternatives…

Basecamp for Men E53: Envisioning Our Future

E53: Envisioning Our Future with Special Guest Ian Mackenzie

 

E53 Introduction

In the coming episodes, I hope to speak with more futurists and visionaries. I like to have conversations about what is possible as we navigate change.

I am reminded of a Kurt Vonnegut quote. He said,“I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things that you can’t see from the center.”

It is good for us to listen to alternative perspectives and ideas. It sharpens our intellect and keeps our brains working well. You may not agree or can envision these ideas bearing fruit. But new systems are often started by visionaries and futurists who try and sketch out what they are seeing. And we, as early adopters of these new ideas, work to turn these ideas over in our conscious and sub-conscious minds. Working the fertile ground of our imagination. Trying our best to allow others to contribute as we seek our own place and contribution to the greater good.

I am at a point in my life where I don’t want to close off an idea because it initially feels “out there”. Our greatest transformations, both external and internal, may come from these very esoteric and edgy ideas and concepts.

My guest today is someone I have a great deal of respect for, both as filmmaker and a futurist.

Ian Mackenzie Bio

Ian Mackenzie is a filmmaker and visionary artist and creator and host of the podcast The Mythic Masculine. For over 11 years, Ian has been tracking the global emergence of new culture, seeking out and amplifying the voices of visionaries, artists and activists who have ben working towards planetary system change.

Here is my interview with Ian MacKenzie.

Basecamp for Men E52: Psychedelics and the New Vision

E52: Psychedelics and the New Vision

 

E52: Introduction

Growing up on the west coast, the lore of the 1960’s free-thinking hippie/peace movement was something that was part of our heritage. Within this culture, psychedelics always had a strange, mysterious, and transformative power. An elixir that had the ability to throw open the doors of perception, revealing a sacred, divinely infused electromagnetic field that we are in constant communication with.

The lineage of these psychedelic explorers carried forth into the rave and music culture of the 80’s and 90’s and today is kept alive by festivals like Burning Man. Whatever your take is on this controversial topic, psychedelics seems to be an important part of our mythical Tree of Knowledge.

Tales of seeing the face of God or the Goddess abound. Scores of courageous people have had profound experiences that changed the course of their lives. What these intrepid psychic explorers seemed to discover was a portal in consciousness. A DMT-primed access point that seemed to accelerate their understanding of the underlying design and meaning of the cosmos.

My guest today has built his podcast around profound discoveries made in sacred space, having participated in many ayuhuasca ceremonies with shamans in the Amazon. I am excited to dialogue with him about what he learned from what is commonly called plant medicine.

Alex is the host of the Natural Born Alchemist podcast. The podcast has been going since 2014 and features a wide array of guests. The theme of the podcast revolves around shamanism, psychedelics, philosophy and alternative ideas. www.naturalbornalchemist.com it is also available on Apple podcasts, Spotify and elsewhere.

Alex has had a life long interest in esoteric topics and his quest for meaning eventually led him to visiting many different indigenous groups around the world and discovering his main teacher in life: Ayahuasca

Here is my interview with Alex from Natural Born Alchemist.

Basecamp for Men E51: The Happiness Index

E51: The Happiness Index with Special Guest Nic Marks

 

E51 Introduction

Happiness is something that I have had a keen interest in for a long time. I have enjoyed looking at this topic and experimenting in my own life as to what makes a happy person. I have even created a presentation that I deliver to groups called How To Create Happiness, which I will talk about in an upcoming episode.

What I love about my guest today is that he has studied happiness in countries and workplaces using statistics as a guide. Which is something that you don‘t see every day. What does this data tell us about what makes a happy country or happy workplace? And most importantly, how do we create more happiness, satisfaction, and well-being in the world while treading lightly on our beloved planet? Here is a conversation about this very issue.

Nic Marks Bio– My guest today is Nic Marks and he was once describe as a “statistician with a soul” due to his unusual combination of hard statistical  and soft people skills. He has been working in the field of happiness, wellbeing and quality of life for over 25 years with a particular emphasis on measurement and how to create positive change.

In 2010, he gave a TED talk on his work in public policy, which has now been watched over 2 million times.

Nic as ben applying his creative thinking to the world of work since 2012. He is the founder of Friday Pulse and has worked with over 1000 organizations and teams measuring and improving their happiness at work. Here is my interview with Nic Marks.