How many of you bristle at the mere mention of the word surrender? I know I did for most of my life. I equated it with giving up or giving in. In this episode we reframe surrender as an act that reflects our self-worth and self-trust. When we aren’t surrendering, we’re resisting, we’re fighting uncertainty and trying to control our reality. Our higher selves know this is a fool’s errand, but our nervous systems still attempt to control in order to keep ourselves safe. We both share our personal journeys to the path of surrender, and how allowing instead of controlling has upleveled how we show up in the world. We also unpack how surrender shows up in a healthy romantic relationship with an intact masculine/feminine polarity. Surrendering to doing hard things, building willpower, and how this process ends up serving you is how we end the episode. This has been one of the episodes we are most proud of to date!

With all of the conflict affecting the world right now, in typical fashion, we dive right into the depths. What is evil and how does it manifest in our world? We don’t claim to be experts on geopolitical affairs, but merely present our views on what could have gotten humans to the place to want to murder each other to begin with. Is humankind inherently good or bad? Is anyone truly irredeemable? Does spirituality mean we are all one? Is it luxury to view the world without evil? Who are we to even judge?

You think you've seen us riled up? Wait until you hear us dissect the modern American diet. *sigh* We dive into how diet culture and body positivity can be both helpful and harmful, and what we would like to see instead that actually empowers folks to feel connected to their bodies. In more counter-culture news- gluten is not the problem. Yep, we said it. We talk about convenience food, being connected to where our food comes from, and how a healthy diet isn’t so complicated, no matter what we are being sold. And lastly, a good big ole soapbox on modern beef production. Stick around to the end to hear our encouraging remarks on how you can change these systems in the microcosm of your own body.

In this episode, we read Charles Eisenstein’s 2015 essay “Misogyny and Healing of the Masculine”. In it, Charles describes two local Asheville men that started a blog glorifying their sexual pursuits and degrading women. We break down his concept of the narrative of othering and how destructive it can be, as well as potential paths to redemption and healing. This is a stark contrast from the traditional version of villainization, punishment, and canceling. Instead, we pose some of our potential solutions to broken men, such as learning the value in restraint and how can we keep fathers in homes? Yes, radical personal accountability is the answer, but we also critique and blaming “toxic masculinity” for all of society’s problems and our hyperfixation on being critical of men. It’s a deep and real episode, but the most honest and raw depiction we can give of our take of the impacts of the gender divide, and especially how it affects men.

https://charleseisenstein.org/essays/misogyny-and-the-healing-of-the-masculine/

https://therepproject.org/films/

What made us decide that we want to have children? And how did we stomach that decision knowing that the world is in shambles, and we only very recently felt evolved and competent enough to have anything to offer a child? Listen in for some casual existential dread, but also some solid points on the growth and evolution required to bring us to this decision (*hint*- you’ve heard these themes before- gratitude, humility, and resilience). We also chat about our evolutionarily old brains and how they haven’t caught up to our modern lifestyle. How does that vibe or not vibe with knowledge and wisdom? We also seek to unpack what it means to be an ancient human. And how we strive to create meaning in a life where the constant question persists- “Does any of this actually matter?”

So, in the spirit of doing hard things that push us out of our comfort zones, we went to jiujitsu, as basically totally beginners. You’ll hear us chat about how beat up Brandon got versus how nice everyone was to Kimber. But we also use this experience to jump into the depths of:

-How important is physicality and competition to a healthy expression of masculinity? -What does it really mean for a man to know where he stands against other men?

-What is the female equivalent?

-What are the more evolved versions of those ways of thinking? And the solutions we come to- Being a kingdom builder- how do we set an example for young people? By being role models, but integrity takes courage. Stick around the end to hear us share the masculine (in Kimber) and feminine (in Brandon) qualities we appreciate in each other

The Gender Divide and How we Heal Join Brandon and Kimber for a real and honest conversation on the division between men and women and what each gender can do to bridge the gap. We jam about topics like: -How the masculine and feminine want to be supported differently

-Why healing requires acknowledgement of men’s issues, too -What promotes progress instead of regression back to the gender inequality of the 1950’s

-How we work together with both genders having a seat at the table

Listen until the end to hear our takes on how individual men and women can step up, take personal accountability, and begin the critical work of stepping into their power to bring men and women back together. We are stronger together.