Brendan Schmidt runs the popular Instagram account MasculineRevival, on which he pairs a rich aesthetic and movingly honest words about masculinity, as he discovers for himself what it means to be a man.

He’s also someone I share a lot in common with. We “speak the same language,” having been on similar journeys through the New Age and men’s inner healing world and arriving at a rediscovery of traditionalism.

Over the course of our two-and-a-half hour conversation we discussed:

• The difference between functional and fulfilling Relationships 
• Cultivating traditional values in the dating world
• The narcissism of the New Age religion
• Men's work, why it's important, and why it's not "gay" to feel genuine love for other men
• And finally, his moving story of being abandoned in childhood by his father, when and how they met, and what happened after

This is one of the most important conversations I've had so far. I think many men will see themselves reflected in Brendan's story, and hear familiar themes in the discussion that we share.

And for those men who don't recognize themselves in us, who perhaps come from different backgrounds, I hope you'll see more clearly some of the burdens carried by your brothers and the journeys that we've walked to stand beside you in this Renaissance of Men, and Masculine Revival.

To follow MasculineRevival on Instagram, click here

To follow his girlfriend EmbracingFemininity on Instagram, click here

To watch the documentary "The Work", click here

Check out my new website at https://renofmen.com

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