What does it mean to be a full man in the 21st Century?

My mother used to collect for me recommendations of books to read. Books she thought that I might enjoy or need in order to learn and grow. I read “La Confiance en soi, une philosophie” (roughly translated “Assertiveness, A philosophy”) written by Charles Pépin – a French contemporary philosopher and author – in the beginning of 2019. No matter who we are or became, I think that each of us bumps one day or another into the topic of self-confidence. We often hide behind a lack of it to not act, not become who we truly want to be, saying ‘yes’ instead of saying ‘no’.

Yet there are people that we believe have the “right” amount of assertiveness to impact. Those people can be seen as role models, mentor, superstars, successful man or woman, whatever the word each of us use for that.

One of the most powerful thought that I’ve learned in this book is the following: “we are all singular […]. We are all solitary diamonds. We can compare some of our social accomplishments, but the singular sparkle of a solitary diamond compare to no other, by definition”. If you follow that thought, you only compare yourself to 2 persons : the person you were and the person you want to become. No one else.

“The Diamonds” Podcast is about people who dare to really live, who dare to assert their singularity.

This 1st episode is about William. I met him during my visit to Tasmania where I spent 3 days at his home as his Airbnb guest. William has an almost self-sufficient timber house and garden by the ocean at South Arm, on the Australian island State of Tasmania. On my arrival I was touched by the combination of wild nature and homely comforts. As I lay, warmly nestled in his guest room, my view through the glass doors was across a garden and out to the Tasmanian sea. Then the peace, the sound of the waves and a beautiful southern hemisphere sunset let me know I had arrived at a special place. Tasmania is a wild island and is the last stop before crossing the Great Southern Oceans and onto Antarctica.
At a personal level, William instills joy to his home and joy through the contact he has with other people. For me, it was a pure moment of pleasure to record this conversation with him. In our conversation he refers to his personal growth and experiences through a voluntary organisation called TasMen. This is an organisation that helps men to emotionally grow and reset what it means to be a full man in the 21st Century.