Navigating the Landscape of Masculinity with David Patrick Farrell
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Angelo: Welcome everyone. I'm your host, Angelo Santiago, and this is the, we are the men podcast, a show that is dedicated to sharing stories of men who are all connected by a commitment to having a positive impact on the world through the actions they take in their own lives. My guest today is David Patrick Farrell, also known as DPF.
He is a poet, youth worker, men's work facilitator, co founder of men rising together, which has been operating in Ireland, his home country for three years. Now, DPF is involved as a facilitator with different organizations and events in the U S and around Europe, including unity work. Conscious singles, medicine festival.
He's also a sobriety advocate and a good friend of mine. We just got to spend some time together last week when he was out in San Diego at our [00:01:00] leadership summit with sacred sons, myself included. And I'm excited, so excited to drop in on this conversation with him to see what's going on in his life, what's he's bringing through in Ireland and beyond throughout Europe.
And David Patrick Farrell, thank you for being here, brother. It's an honor and a pleasure.
Brother, I'm very grateful to be here, very grateful to be asked. I've been following the page The Last while, you know, since you've started it. The content is amazing, the brothers you've had on are all amazing brothers across the world and just very grateful to be here and to be able to share. Any insights or wisdom that I have from the work I do.
Beautiful, bro. And it was so good to see you last week because, you know, we met for the first time in Scotland at the end of last year. And I got to meet so many of the European brothers doing this work. And then to be sitting at a table for lunch or dinner in San Diego, looking around and seeing a brother from Ireland, from London.
From Hungary, from Canada, from Mexico, all these men who like from all around the world are doing [00:02:00] incredible things. And here we are, we come together, we connect and we're all in it doing the same thing for the same reason in our own little community. So I'm so excited to tap into that, in all the things that you're bringing through.
DPF: Yeah, I, I, I, I resonate exactly what you're saying because I looked around in the room, we were all sitting in and the caliber of men, I was like, wow, all these incredibly human beings that I may have connected with, not connected with, but follow online or they follow me. The work they do in their own communities is amazing.
And from across the world, it's a global brotherhood and a worldwide brotherhood that I'm the part that we are a part of, we get to be a part of. And, you know, collaboration through like this and it's amazing. And to see where it's going in that. How it's going to expand and evolve. I'm just grateful to be part of it.
Beautiful, bro. Well, let's talk about where it's going and how it's going to involve for you. But before we start getting too far ahead of ourselves, I always like to start off with the present moment, right? Like what is going on in your life right now coming back from California back to Ireland? and specifically like what brought you out there [00:03:00] and what is the season of life that you find yourself in?
What's going on in DPF's world that is calling him towards the next step in this
Angelo: present moment?
I'll
Angelo: Beautiful question
DPF: brother.
why I brought myself out to San Diego is the caliber of men. The organization we're involved with, the Sacred Sons, they're amazing. What they're doing, how do you, how do they connect brothers across the world and the medicine I received from the Sacred Sons is amazing.
It's phenomenal. It's endless. Like I was in C8 last year in LA and I got this deep sense of grief of being Irish but only by passport and not really connected to my heritage or lineage and I went to bed that night and I prayed and I
DPF: dreamt of a bodhran, a traditional Irish bodhran and a tin
whistle.
And then it's the medicine that came through this prayer, through this vision, this dream was you're going to connect back to your lineage and your heritage through the music. And since October last year, I've been connecting back to my roots. and it's just been that gift alone from the Sacred Sons, to be able to, because I [00:04:00] connected with brothers to have different lineages from Mexican, Native American.
all across the world. And yeah, that medicine receives is like, wow, there's more medicine there. So that's why I went back out to San Diego and to be around the caliber of men and the work that I do, you know, to expand and
DPF: evolve in Ireland. So men's
work is kind of grassroots here. the last couple of years, there is circles happening the number of years, but the work quote unquote is not for me, it's not being happening.
So it is now true. What I'm able to evolve with my skillset through sacred Modalities I'm working with yeah, that's what I've been kind of doing and traveling the world to be able to meet the likes of You or the brothers the network and I've got to Be involved in like so I get to be involved with so many different projects now collaborations through me and brothers at these events through the
DPF: summits, through Convergence, through EMXs and the I'm
right here now because I met you at an event, you know, and at some [00:05:00] other events and work in an organization because of this.
So the medicine is endless with the, I think, with
DPF: the sacred sons and men's
organizations and how we get to come together. So that's what I'm just so grateful for.
Angelo: Beautiful brother. Let's, let's explore a little bit about that. The lineage you spoke to the ancestry, because it's interesting hearing that from you coming from, from Ireland over here to the U S because there's so many men here in the United States that are lost or disconnected from their lineages, from their ancestry.
And a lot of them, Look back towards the, their European roots and a lot of men who their, their ancestors came from Ireland and I know you guys are holding an EMX in Ireland and there's the invitation for men, American men who want to reconnect to the Irish land, the Irish soil, the food, the music, the culture, the heritage to bring them closer back to their own ancestry for you in, in making that prayer.
Making that prayer to connect to your ancestors through the music, through the experience. What do you want to tell these men who do feel a little [00:06:00] bit lost about their connection to where they came from or who they are? Like what, what little piece have you found in yourself that you want to pass on to men who may be listening?
DPF: Back to, back to prayer. for me, it's all about prayer and trust. Because though I work with different modalities the last number of years, different medicines, All been amazing, allies with me, but I always felt that longing for a connection back to this land and patience. I was impatient. I was very impatient.
I was like, what's going to happen? When am I going to connect? And, but I just trusted, I just kept trusting and praying and trusting and praying. And that's what I invite men to do is just take time with it, you know, be patient, meet themselves where they're at. That's what I had to do and accept where I'm at.
And then I've been reaching for different tangible cultures that are still rife, you know, the Native American is still very rife, the South American is still rife through medicines, the Shebibo lineage or Lakota, it's very easy to see, it's still very vibrant, the essence is still there, it's a lot of the cultures can be seen, where in Ireland we [00:07:00] have to kind of From my experience, we had to dig a lot deeper, you know, dig a lot deeper.
And through connecting with the badhron and through connecting with the tin whistle, it's how it works is, I'm now resonating on a different energy frequency where people are now coming into my field that are fluent in the Irish language or professional drummers, you know, badhron and, and professional tin whistle players.
It's like, well, because I've kind of Prayed, connected with the prayer, and digging deeper, and now people are coming into my field, my energy is shifted, and now people are coming into my presence of like, wow, yeah, that really connected, and I can see the roots back into this land, and these people weren't available before this prayer, weren't in my peripheral visions, or in my vision at all, but the trust and the prayer has now brought them into my field of energy, which I'm very, very grateful for.
Angelo: I love that, man. And what I want to really explore now, because there may be some people listening to this and they hear the words, right? Prayer, trust. And maybe that's just not something that's alive in their life right now. Maybe it's something that they just, maybe they have this idea. [00:08:00] It's like, well, I don't know how to pray correctly, or I don't know how to just let go.
And, you know, I, I prefer to hold on to, This idea of control and make sure I know where I'm going in here. And if I, if I want these things to happen, I have to take action and do and call these people in. But you're almost inviting this, this piece, this opportunity to rest in the unknowing and trust that something will happen.
I really want to explore for you and your journey, you know, how that has developed in your life, how you've come to this point. So I'm imagining that the DPF from years ago, maybe that was something that if he heard somebody say would be like, nah, I don't know. So take us back a little bit before we get to where you are now.
Like what was, what was life like before for DPF? What was his connection to trust, to prayer, to calling in the people, that you are calling in now in, in your community, in your network to take you to this next place that you're going.
DPF: yeah, well, my previous life was, well, this year I celebrate five years sobriety, on Monday it's just gone, so I'm very [00:09:00] grateful, but before that, my life was insane it was pure madness. So there was rites of passage. So I look at this as rites of passage and initiations. So the rites of passage and initiations in where I'm from in Dublin was taking drugs, selling drugs, and criminality.
So I would have been taking, drinking alcohol once a week from 11 years old, taking drugs from 12 years old, pumped out, in a hospital at 12 years old for alcohol, taking drugs, selling drugs from 13 onwards. And then my life just spoiled into this madness, but that was like a rites of passage to be like seen and heard by the elders, elders in the community to be respected or perceived as respect, no brothers, no sisters, and no father in my life, so it's just me and my mother.
Kind of the lack of a male role model led me into a life of criminality. So I seen drug dealers, criminals, gangsters. They had respect, they had money, they were well known in the community. So I wanted to be these men and that's who I became. 16 [00:10:00] years, taking cocaine and Various number of different drugs, but cocaine and alcohol was my biggest addictions and it's spiralled out control completely where I was taking it every day Spending thousands of euro a week on drugs and just caught in a cycle of selling drugs taking drugs Wrapped up with some serious criminals and involved in some crazy things and my life was just in this chaotic place for a long time I didn't care if I lived.
I didn't care if I died. I I was just yeah, it was madness I was planning armed robberies. Went to do armed, I was attempting to do three armed robberies at the very end of my addiction. And the police just came into the vicinity at the time and we kind of stopped. We didn't do it. And then we went a week later, we didn't do it.
A week later, we didn't do it. And I was like, well, it's like, okay, something is guiding me here. And this is like, okay, something is really telling me this is not your path. This is not the life you're supposed to live. So towards the end of my addiction, I was awake for five days. The cocaine ran out, the cigarettes ran out, the alcohol ran out, and this, like, dark night of [00:11:00] the soul, spiritual awakening.
These are the words I'd use now, but at this time, this message came through, and then, I was like, I, I felt so numb, and I wasn't numb from the drink or the drugs, I was like, I haven't cried or felt an emotion since I was 11 years old, and this epiphany came, I was like, well, I need to change. One thing, and that one thing was everything.
So I left this party, I went home, I slept for 24 hours. I went and found a local meeting in my area. I went to a meeting, went to 60 meetings in 50 days. I got a sponsor that has the program. And since that moment, It's when my life changed. I'm literally, how I look at it is, I'm five years old. My emotional growth started five years ago.
The world, I actually started to see things five years ago, waking up, as you want to put it. From that moment my life changed and yeah, so my life before that was like, there was no connection to anything. And then this moment was a connection to something. And then I've been cultivating that connection through different practices from that moment.[00:12:00]
And it's been a great, it's been a, really, really incredible and emotional and, and having feelings and emotions for the first time five years ago, it was, it was actually very scary. And I was like, what is this? To feel happy, to feel sad, to feel joy, to feel anything. I was like, well, I didn't know how to emotionally regulate anyway, or anything about the nervous system was like, it was brand new to me.
I, it was, it was actually, I thought I was going insane when I, when I got sober, I was like, this is like, this is too much for me. I didn't know how the world operated. I didn't know when it got dark. I didn't know what months were cold in the year. I didn't know when the times and clocks changed. I didn't know anything.
I was like, wow, like the brand new reality to me, the actual world. And I've been praying since then. The prayer has been getting deeper and true. Through deep prayer, it's got me through men's work, through plant medicine, it's got me through men's work. My first ever plant medicine ceremony. I grieved the death of men in my life who had passed away through suicide, drug overdose, murder, [00:13:00] and I grieved deeply for these men and the medicine that was working with it said you need to, vocalize your story.
You need to be authentic and genuine and really open up all of your story and you need to help and guide men into this place where they can come and feel safe and be seen and be heard. And then it was like this word men's work came in and I had never been involved in men's work. I was at a circle the week before and I seen snippets of it, but the medicine was like, no, you need to do this.
I was like, okay. And that was four years ago. Three and a half years ago and I was like, wow, and since that moment, it's been, it's been all about the men and the prayer.
That's beautiful, man. What a beautiful story. Thank you for going there. Thank you for going for way back to when things were really hard and really struggling and being fully honest about it. Cause for those that are listening, who maybe are at the point where you were like, what the heck is men's work?
What is this all about? I think that gives it a really powerful taste of what this can be about. [00:14:00] It's, it's about many, many things, but just the one thing of a man sharing his story honestly and openly of like, this is, The depths of where I was. These are the things that I that I used to do. And then here's what shifted.
Here's what changed. And you talked, you talked a little bit about like, you know, I found these other practices and I found started doing these other things and connecting with other people. And I think that's the important piece. Because when we take a part of our lives that has been so ingrained in us, right?
Whether it's an addictive tendency or a way of being, and we decide to make a huge shift and put that aside and move that away, it has to be replaced with something else. And so I hear you, you know, both in the meetings that you went to the practices, the connection with other men, like all these things that you've started to cultivate and add to your life filled that gap of what you used to fill up with, with the drugs, the alcohol, the criminality, you know, and, and so that's, that's beautiful.
And so. For someone who's, who's listening right now has heard your story and [00:15:00] seen the shifts that you've changed and the calling that you've stepped into, like where, like, what is life like for you now, now that you're on purpose with, with what it is that you're doing now that you're sober, been sober for five years.
Now that you're involved in all these incredible organizations, like paint a picture just to see the contrast of then to now of what is like for D what is life for DPF, like right now.
My life is incredible. I'm truly grateful for every, every single day, every single breath. I'm just struggles. It's not all easy flowing, you know, and being involved in so many different things and, and having the energy to do, but being on purpose and being aligned. This is where I'm at because I, I am prone to burnout as I think a lot of men are by doing, doing, doing.
And I got this realization that my soul is boundless and untethered and wants to expand and evolve and do everything. But I have to realize that I'm in a treaty realm here, my mind and my body need rest. And I was trying to get everything done in the first few years, like I need to run a marathon, [00:16:00] which I did, and this is all accolades and prestige, but run a marathon, cycle across Ireland, start a business, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
And do all these things. I got this realization the last year when I kept burning out every few weeks. It's like, You have a lifetime to do this work. You have a lifetime. You don't need to do everything this year. You don't need to have everything, all the boxes ticked in the next month. And when I got that realization that I am fully aligned and on purpose with men's work, I'm, it gave me a sense of relief to slow down.
Like I'm on purpose with this men's work. I'm in this for the long haul. This is not just a phase, a fad or like a new trend. I've reaped the rewards of men's work, I'm still reaping the rewards of men's work, and I know brothers who aren't involved in men's work who will reap the rewards in time. I'm on this for a lifetime, I'm on this train for a long, long time, and this is my life's purpose, this is my passion pledge, and this is my sole purpose, and yeah, it's like, My life now is amazing.
I get to go. I'm actually, what I consider myself now is I'm a real model [00:17:00] and not a role model. I'm exactly who I needed to see when I was a young person. If I had seen a man who was sober, traveling the world, conscious, you know, really just helping the community and society. If I had a man like that in my life to guide me in any sort of way.
This is all you need to see and that's why I went and stepped back into youth work, because I was like, I can give, I have medicine here to give to these young people, so I get to work in a youth organization in Ireland, the biggest youth organization, which I'm very grateful for, working with young people aged from 10 to 22 from all different backgrounds and challenging areas.
That's just my career. Then the men's work I get to do. I get to have like retreats. I get to have workshops every six weeks, hikes every six weeks. In between we're moving online. Just it's about community and society and the collective, you know, and just being, being on purpose is like, it feels like a fire is in my soul because I know where I'm going, but I don't know what it's going to look like as complete trust, complete trust.
I love it. A real model, [00:18:00] not a role model. That's beautiful, man. I, you know, I want to touch on something that you shared about because, you know, I resonate so much with it. I know it about myself and in conversations I've had with other men. it resonates and not to say that this is isolated just to men.
This is isolated. This is to all people, but in the work that we do in connecting with men, this idea of doing, doing, doing to the point of burnout, this idea of like so much excitement in what it is that we are creating, what we've like found to be this new calling, what I've understood for myself. And then I want to ask you a little bit about it is.
You know, I see this thing off in the distance and usually I in the past of my life. It's been like a finish line, right? It's been get a certain degree from a university or get a certain job or make enough money to get an apartment or the car or whatever. It's like there's always a finish line. And once I see the finish line, I'm sprinting.
I want to see how fast I can get on that, that finish line. But now where I am in life, And especially I've gotten so many [00:19:00] reflections from, from these men this past week that I connected with about not only the podcast, but the content I'm creating on social media, you know, they see me doing all this stuff and the reality is like, I'm, the amount I'm creating, the amount I'm doing, it's like fueling me, it's feeding my soul instead of draining my soul.
Cause like you said, there's no finish line. This isn't a fad. This isn't like a little interest that I have right now. Like this is a calling and a purpose. That I'm taking one day at a time, one step at a time, and I'm really motivated by it. And so that changes the dynamic from like, I need to do this as quickly as possible and become this new version of myself to, no, this is just the journey that I'm on.
And so back to you and what you shared about just being patient and trusting and not having it be a finish line, not being a fad of, of men's work. It's like, For men that you see that are in this like driven burnout like energy, what do you want to say to them to really encourage them to like, again, back to the way you've said already, the trust, like the waiting, [00:20:00] just like knowing you're on the right path, especially the, maybe you can speak to the youth as well.
Like, you know, what's the energy to, to get them to slow down, to take a breath and start moving with purpose and patience.
Yeah. For the, for the men, it's like, And I was there and I, and I catch myself the odd time still there, but I'm a very, I have an awareness around it now, so I don't do it so much. For men, we're just so, we, we go, go, go. It's like the next thing, the next thing, the next thing. It's like, sitting in circle would be the first step, you know, for me.
Well, I, I had a few different things I worked with. I went to the sea. The sea is my, my solitude. I got into the ocean. That slowed down my breath, it slowed down my nervous system, it slowed down everything else. I wasn't thinking about anything else except for how cold the Irish sea was. So everything else disappeared.
So, for invitation, the men is, from Ireland or anywhere around the world is, if you can get into cold water, get in the cold water. It slows down your thought process. Journaling is another thing. Sitting with cacao, sitting with yourself, sitting without your phone for [00:21:00] 30 minutes, 40 minutes, an hour. If you can do this, that distraction, and sit with yourself, see what arises.
I remember when I started my journey, I couldn't sit with myself for 15 seconds, my head was monkey mind. I cultivate a practice now where I can sit with myself. An endless amount of time to feel comfortable with who I am. It's just about stopping. Stopping and slowing down and just re re re evaluating where you're at.
What is actually, what's going on? How does my body feel? What emotion am I feeling now? Why am I drawn to this? Why do I keep doing this? Why do I have to keep doing something? Why does my mind, the music always has to be on. A movie has to be on, or there has to be something, five or six different things.
It's all distractions. It's all external factors. What's really happening with you? What's happening right now? When you get to that space of slowing down, you'll be like, okay, breathe. What am I feeling? What step do I need to take now? Okay. What's the next thing I need to do? How many times have we done it where we put the washing on, the dryer on, we're making a cup of coffee, the dinner's on, there's music in [00:22:00] the background.
What are you actually focusing on? Everything else but yourself. It's all distractions. Then you go to bed wired and it's like so many things happened today and you didn't realize. It's like, Were you present making a cup of tea? Were you present putting the coffee on? Were you present washing the dishes?
Are we actually present in each moment? And then if you don't, you look at it, that's minuscule, but the macro of it is a decade could pass and you haven't been present for a decade or another decade would pass. And then it's a lifetime. You realize I have not been present my whole life. And that was my, my moment of like, You know, it's got an epiphany moment at 28.
There's a lifelong of 16 years of drug addiction. I wasn't present for the whole time. And now I have the gift of awareness of presence. It's like every moment I'm in, I'm fully present. This moment here with you, I'm fully present. When we leave this, I'll be fully present, having a cup of coffee. And the more presence I can bring into my life, the better I tread in this world, the better I communicate with people in this world, the better I communicate with men, with youth.
My life seems to expand and grow by being present. So [00:23:00] I invite men to just be present. Slow down and be present with what's actually happening right now and not what's happening in five minutes, 10 minutes or planning the next week. And I catch myself there. I plan a year ahead. It's like, what am I going to do next year?
What course is next year? I was like, okay, where am I at now? You're actually in the middle of a course. I know you're planning next year's course, but it's like, okay, I'm out of awareness. I have to go, okay, come back. Okay, come back. Where are you at now? And it comes and goes, it comes and goes, but I think presence is really important with this type of work and just slowing down.
yeah, this is one of those things that I've heard, you know, said, and I've said it to where it's like, the concept is simple, but it's not necessarily easy, especially because we've been raised in these societies where it is that go go go that do do do that, you know, constant. You know, if I'm driving, I'm also listening to this thing.
If people are texting, if, if you're having a conversation, the phone vibrates, it's like everything's taking your attention in 20 different directions. And I remember, I just want to share this little story because our, our journeys relate a lot in the aspect of sobriety. For me, I've been [00:24:00] sober for almost three years now.
And I remember very early on talking to my sponsor and really struggling. And he's like, well, How often do you spend time just sitting with yourself? And honestly, when he asked me that question, I thought he was crazy. Cause I was like, what do you mean? You know, cause I couldn't, I couldn't do it. I couldn't just have a time where I'm sitting with absolutely no distractions phone put away.
And I'm talking about not even like doing yoga or meditation. Cause even that's like, there's a doing that's happening there. Like I'm talking about really just sitting there with myself, silence, no distractions for an extended period of time. And once I learned to be able to do that, like got comfortable enough with myself to look inward instead of outward, so much shifted.
So if you listen to what DPF just shared, and there were so many, nuggets in that little portion of what he just shared about getting in the cold water, doing the journaling, like being present with making your tea or your coffee, like go back and start [00:25:00] implementing a few of these practices in your life and see what shifts, because these are small steps that have huge impact, huge impact on on your relationship to yourself, which ripples out into your relationship with others.
so DPF, my question now is you are involved in so many things, both in Ireland and across Europe in the United States. I'd love to get a little sneak peek about like, In this calling that you now have, this men's work, bringing men to more presence, bringing men into an understanding of themselves, into community, into mentorship, into being a real model for the youth, you know, what is like the one thing that you want to share with the listeners that like you found when you gather men specifically in Ireland?
Because I'm curious because for me, that's like, That's a culture that I'm not too familiar with. Like what is going on with the men in Ireland that you have seen and that bringing them on these hikes has created a new opportunity for them, which ultimately spills out into new opportunities for all men, for [00:26:00] women, for children in the island that you live on.
Yeah, I appreciate that. so myself and Patrick Joseph, the other co founder of MRT, Men Rising Together, our vision for this year was we're going to hike the four highest peaks in Ireland, in the four provinces, Leinster, Ulster, Munster and Connacht. So our vision is to get men to the highest peak in their province, in their area, on the physical.
But getting them to the highest peak in their physical state, in their physical mountain place, They're also reaching the highest physical place, place in mental, emotional, spiritual well being. So we got it. We had 52 men in current, no 52 men in Luganiquilla, which is in Leinster. 52 men coming for a hike and it was minus 10 degrees at the top of this mountain.
It was incredible. We had men from all different walks, all different backgrounds in them. What we're doing is we're gathering men from all around Ireland, meeting in different locations. And some men are on the men's part, some men are not on the men's part, some men are not involved in any sort of self development part.
But they're [00:27:00] coming, they're gathering, and the conversations are happening between themselves. We've had men sharing openly about their experiences. All their trials and tribulations have been heard and received. So we open the ceremonies, if we open any ceremony, with chaos, you know, confidentiality, honesty, acceptance, ownership, and keeping it sacred.
Our last hike, we had a 12 year old boy, father and son, and he hiked up the highest peak in Ulster. Which was Sleave Donnard, this 12 year old boy, and we took our time, we slowly went, we took our time, we stopped with him, he was catching up with us. This 12 year old boy now has reached the highest peak in his province, in his area, in Ireland.
That 12 year old boy is going to go home, go to school, and tell all the other 12 year old boys what he did that weekend with 29 other conscious men. Yes, the hike was 29 men and one 12 year old boy. That 12 year old boy is already the next generation spilling his energy into his classroom. That's like in 10 years time, we're gonna have 29, 22 year old men that have [00:28:00] come from his classroom.
You know, that's what I'm saying. So it's important for the youth coming with us to see. That yes, we can be surrounded by these conscious, incredible fit and healthy men hiking on a Sunday, but there's so much more to it. So much more to it. And these, these circles we have, we invite younger men to come in.
We had a boy of six years old come and 11 years old, and we had men openly crying about their life. You know, what's going on with them, their emotions of being separated, their family being separated because of the breakdown and the mother and father breaking down, you know, their breakup and the. The youth were there and they were vocalizing how important it is to see men crying openly and how important it is for them to see this emotion.
11 year old boy, when he shared this, we all, we, we all wept, you know, and it's like, this is so much more important. Having the youth with us is incredible to see that men do openly meet up and experience life this way and vocalize this way and express themselves this way. So, These hikes, they just seem to be, they keep growing, which is amazing.
And [00:29:00] because there's so different pockets around Ireland, we have men traveling from everywhere, which is incredible, you know, and they're coming for the hikes, but they're leaving a lot more, you know, they're coming for what they think they want, but what they need is underneath the connection, the community, the unity, the brotherhood in this, and they'll get to meet men across Ireland through this, which is amazing.
So that's what we do with our hikes. six weeks we have an event, physical event, a hike. Six weeks in between that we have a one day Sacred Circle, Sacred Workshop. And then we have every second week now, bi weekly, we have online. Because we're going to connect with men all around Ireland, we want to be able to create a space where they can come more accessible.
So an online presence is what was needed, so it's, it's growing, which is beautiful. I'm just truly grateful to see where the Men Rise Together is going and the men showing up with their, with their young people as well, the young men.
Yeah, really honoring you DPF for, for putting this together, probably assuming that at first it's like, Hey, this is a space for men to come together to go on these hikes, but now seeing [00:30:00] these, these young men, these boys coming and being a part of it, the impact that has, especially for the other men who are there who, maybe don't have children yet, or maybe do have children, but their relationship is strained.
It's like that, that is building bridges for something new for men. Yeah. Men as fathers, uncles, mentors, leaders in the community. it's really beautiful what you're doing. So, so thank you. I just have this vision of like, and again, not to get too far into the future, but this is like a vision, right? And I'm seeing just men and youth all across Ireland, just like hiking together, like in a huge pack and, and you and your fellow co founder up there, guiding them up this mountain.
It's, it's amazing. I hope that the one day I get my feet in Ireland, I get to connect with you and do one of these hikes with you.
Yeah, it'd be beautiful to have you over, but it's like, this is now, because I think Macaulay talks about, you know, creating a culture, because we're so far distance from our future, from our culture here, to a degree, because of everything that happened, colonialism, [00:31:00] etc, etc. But now it's like creating a new rite of passage, you know, a new initiation, and that initiation and rite of passage for this young boy was now, and he's at the highest peak in his area, his province.
That's his rite of passage. That's his initiation. And that can be available for every young boy. And that's just the start of, you know, creating these cultures. You know, have you climbed this mountain? Have you climbed this mountain? You know, so much more healthier way of initiation. And I think it's beautiful.
I think you can really see it growing. And it is,
Awesome. Well, keep going, keep growing, keep flowing, keep making it happen, man. before I ask you, you know, if somebody's in Ireland or maybe coming to Ireland or really, they just want to learn a little bit more about you and all the work that you're doing throughout Europe. Before we get there, I want to give you the mic one last moment here to any piece of advice or any message you want that somebody take away from this conversation that maybe you haven't had the chance to say it yet.
Thank you. what's, what's alive in your heart that's like, Hey, I don't know who this is for, but somebody's listening that might want to hear [00:32:00] this.
Oh, there is a place for you in our circle. There is a place for you in men's work. It's inviting to all men, all brothers, young, old elders, everything. You are welcome. If the space is there, reach out, it may seem intimidating, it may seem too far of a grasp, too far of a reach for you, but it's available for you, and we want you there, we need you there, you have medicine to share, and the welcome invitation is come and join us, come and join us, and come and join us.
Come and join us. Beautiful DPF. Well, if somebody does want to come and join you and wants to learn more about what you're doing, how can, anyone find out more about you and the work that you are creating in Ireland and beyond?
Yep, you can hit me up directly on my page, davidpatrickfarrell and all the links are in my bio, everything I'm involved in. I need to get more space for more links. But also the Men Rising Together page, we have all [00:33:00] our, all our events, upcoming events on that also.
Okay, awesome. And I'll have the link to that in the show notes as well. How you connect, connect to DPF. Also, he will be at EMX Ireland august 1st to 4th, EMX Ireland, DPF, so many other, the sacred sons, European brothers will be out there. I'm looking at my calendar to see if I can make it out there.
Cause that would be amazing. I love, love being on a new soil with brothers who I just been, been rocking with for, for a while now. And, that I fully trust and learn to love to, learn from, from you and everything that is happening out there. So DPF, as we close out this beautiful conversation, I want to say thank you.
And I want to invite you in a little bit of a visualization, for you to take a deep breath, to slow down, to see what last little message is meant to come through you for the people who are listening today. And if you're listening, I invite you to join us and see what comes through you. [00:34:00] It's a DPF.
Take a deep breath, close down your eyes. And I want you to imagine, to see, yourself. You find yourself on an open field. Thousands of men are with you, and you are about to address the world. You begin to speak, and I want you to finish this sentence. We are the men who talk.
we are the men who embarked on a deep and incredible journey. The longest journey you will ever go on. And though it might be trials and tribulations, This journey you will embark on will change your life, and this journey is from your head into your heart. So embark with me.
Let's go embark with me to the journey to the heart. Thank you [00:35:00] DPF so much for being here. I want to thank you for joining us on the we are the men podcast. If you liked what you heard, please take a moment to rate and follow to help us reach more listeners. All of us know men who could benefit from hearing these conversations.
Please share this podcast today with someone you know. I'm Angelo Santiago. Thank you DPF and we are the men.
