Mindset: Finding Your Purpose and Creating Consistency with Matt LeBris

[00:00:00] Hector: Fellas, what's going on? I hope this episode finds you well, and I hope this episode leaves you better than when it. Today's episode is with Dow Houston, and as I'm saying it, that name sounds like it's from Texas, and I believe he's from Oklahoma, but very, very close. And on this episode we talk about the importance.

[00:00:55] Hector: Or how and why style and fashion can be important for a man and also perhaps why it's been overlooked a little bit and why it is something that not a lot of guys talk about, frankly. And when you see Dow, and I'd encourage you to go when you, if you listen to this, pull up a picture of him, go on his website and you can see like the guy walks his talk and he's somebody who.

[00:01:24] Hector: I know that if I saw him just walking down the street, I'd be inspired. I don't know that I would wear what he's wearing, but that's a lot of what we talk about is that everybody sort of needs to find their own. Unique style and uh, it's a really good conversation that I think, uh, a lot of you guys will enjoy if not just because of do's spirit and some of his wonderful stories.

[00:01:50] Hector: So anyways, enough of me, y'all. Let's get into today's episode with Doo Houston.

[00:01:56] Hector: Dal, welcome to the Modern Masculinity Podcast. Thanks for being here.

[00:02:00] Dal: Thanks, , , I appreciate the, , opportunity.

[00:02:04] Hector: One thing we always ask our guests is to take us into their world. And you are a lawyer, a husband partner. You have Sort of this brand and mission. You know, you're doing lots of things. , Hopefully you're not insulted by the word eccentric, but you might, you know, you might call yourself someone of eccentric interests, you know, very, very diverse interests.

[00:02:30] Hector: , With all that being said, what sort of challenges as a man, in your stage of life, are you still going through.

[00:02:38] Dal: at my stage in life, going through a lot of stuff, I think times have changed and are changing on as to what men are, what is expected of men, what men can imagine themselves being. And at the same time, I'm hitting an age where. , Traditionally you are slowing down, so to speak, in general terms, and, I find myself wanting to do just the opposite.

[00:03:11] Dal: I'm wanting to speed it up. I'm wanting to

[00:03:14] Dal: grab the world and go for it, if that makes sense. Hector?

[00:03:19] Hector: One of the things as I was sort of prepping for this interview that I noticed about your message and some of the content that you've put out is, I think there was a video on your website with something to the effect of pink is. Color that guys can wear, or pink is not a girl color or, Something like that. And I remember as a kid being, I don't know, maybe 12, 13 years old and wanting to get like a pink Lacoste shirt because I thought it was cool, and having to sort of wrestle with. You know, I had the older cousins who would go, oh, that's gay. what are you wearing a pink shirt for?

[00:03:58] Hector: And thankfully my mom was somebody who, you know, she was like, will you wear whatever you wanna wear? You know? And I was able to grapple with, this discussion or this idea that masculinity is not one. Color or shade like that is not represented in the colors that you wear or the clothes that you wear, but there's something actually deeper behind and. You seem to express that in a really unique way through fashion. And so I'm just curious, I'd love to know when did that begin and, and were there any challenges that you

[00:04:39] Hector: sense of.

[00:04:41] Dal: I actually kind of got a sense of fashion probably. In my mid twenties. And it's really bizarre 'cause I was a farmer. I started out as a only wanting to be a farmer, rancher, cowboy. that's all I wanted to be. And I was a pretty shy guy. And between high school and, , that age, I'd only had a couple of dates and I was really shy and I kind of learned.

[00:05:08] Dal: That I could communicate through fashion but I primarily was just as a cowboy, farmer, rancher. 'cause was kind of in that, realm, Then when I went to college, it was in the eighties. And that was kind of the preppy age. And I, and there was something that really, really appealed to me about that.

[00:05:27] Dal: , My dad had always wanted me to kind of be a, gentleman but when it really kicked in was probably 10 years ago. And, , you know, was working out hard, , and, I knew through my farming and the ranching and, that kind of stuff, that, and I'm not bragging, it's, kind of odd to hard to try and talk about yourself, but, , that I was tough enough to do whatever I wanted, you know, that physically I was tough and strong I just started, , kind of developing my own style and.

[00:06:00] Dal: It was a challenge because you are putting yourself out there in a whole different way. If you have seen my fashion and you know, there are people looking at you going, what in the hell is up with this guy? You know, I went to a UFC fight, some people come up and say, man, hey, you got it going on.

[00:06:23] Dal: And some people look at you like you had two heads, you know, I looked at it and said, you know, this is what I like and I really can't give a, damn about what somebody else thinks. it's not about trying to impress somebody. It's not about, some people look at you and try and think you're trying to gather attention. It's not, it's just, it just kind of a way of expressing yourself and saying, this is who I am, and at the same time saying, you know, I am not going to be.

[00:07:00] Dal: What people think they're entitled to their opinions. and it's kind of cool to have a lot of young people come up and say, Hey man, you know, give you a high five or man, you got it going on. And it's like, you know, you feel pretty good about it. and again, I'm not doing it for compliments, but it feels pretty good.

[00:07:17] Dal: But, but at the same time, you know, people are looking at you going, what the hell is going on with this guy? He's, different. You know, and again, I'm not doing that to expressly do that. It's, it's not an intentional deal where I'm saying I want to be different. It's just that I am different I think we are all different and all have unique qualities and things. We just honestly. Are scared and worried to express 'em. You know, what are people gonna say? Whether it be I'm expressing myself through clothes, I'm expressing myself through words, what I think, what I say, and at some point, I think man's role is to just say, you know, I gotta express it.

[00:08:02] Dal: And that is what it's.

[00:08:04] Hector: Yeah, the listeners are gonna get their bingo cards out because I'm bringing up my Catholic thing early. We're only eight minutes into this recording, and so, . , they can mark off a, spot on their board early. But I remember going to Catholic school and we wore uniforms. And so there was a, distinct sort of repression of that, , expression, if you will.

[00:08:29] Hector: And I'm only, I'm 33 and I look at my closet I had to realize that. A lot of the stuff in my closet and in my drawers, I didn't really enjoy wearing and I didn't, like the way that I felt, and for the first, you know, three decades of my life, I sort of minimized the impact that that had on me and my identity and my sense of self. I think that a big reason why I bring up the Catholic thing so much is because so much of what their programming is designed to do is to limit that self so that you can be a part of this whole We had, , Todd Michaels, , recently, and he talked about, you know, there being a, good Catholic God, and, that's its own conversation and a great conversation that we had.

[00:09:25] Hector: But in, the same way, there wasn't a lot of self-expression in that community and it, is so necessary for guys to be able to carry themselves in the way that you talked about. In order for them to be able to withstand those looks or withstand the snes or the comments or whatever it is that are gonna come when you're wearing something that makes you feel good, but not them feel good, it requires a sense of, identity and strengthen that identity that I am only, finding.

[00:10:02] Hector: 33 years later, and perhaps that's early, maybe it's late. I feel like it's late, but I think it's something that a lot of guys don't think enough about. , Because, it, it wasn't something that we were taught to value. I.

[00:10:16] Dal: Hector, I would agree. I grew up in a, farming ranch in blue collar community and, household. And there wasn't, you know, a lot of. Encouragement of expression. Now, I will say I had a grandfather who was a, a rancher and, while it was in the ranching style, he was a real character and he was just almost bigger than life and he did kind of have.

[00:10:46] Dal: In his unique way of sense of style. And so I got that. desire from him. , Just that he was just, I. Like I said, he was, he was bigger than life. but other than that, the community I grew up in and, love my, family and the community I did grow up in, not, I'm not, being critical of, it as a whole.

[00:11:05] Dal: But yeah, it there was very little room for uniqueness, and difference. And, , I have used it in a lot of ways and, to, see the world differently, to see men differently, to see what masculinity is, to see what myself is in this whole deal.

[00:11:27] Dal: and I realized, you know, just how much. Weird, , pressure and weird beliefs go into what makes a man think he's masculine or think he's appearing masculine or think he is masculine. That is just

[00:11:44] Dal: pretense. It's just play. . So, yeah, fashion style, however you wanna define it, has been a really, , a cool force in my life, , to kind of cut to the.

[00:11:55] Hector: Yeah, as I'm thinking. About it. My challenge is wanting to sort of fit in and wanting to just kind of go with, with what's in and I think that that's a big part of it is as I'm sort of thinking about.

[00:12:12] Hector: what is my style? If I tried to copy your style A, I don't know that it would feel, as good because you pull it off perhaps like no other, but it's your unique style and for me to, I think they call it like today the kids are calling it aura farming. is the new technical term the kids are using to do that is sort of inauthentic and I can't help but think would leave the guy feeling inauthentic in that sort of style as well.

[00:12:44] Hector: I.

[00:12:44] Dal: like hearing, and I like the concept of being authentic being. Authentic. I can't copy what Hector is. I might find things I like about Hector, the way Hector thinks. Just certain things that I may say, Hey, that is pretty cool, and adapt that to me.

[00:13:03] Dal: And people may look at me and say, Hey, I like aspects of Dell, but you can't copy somebody else. And it come off as authentic. And you know, I wish. Somebody had told me when I was a young man, as it applies to social life and that I really didn't even get started in a, a social life, so to speak, until my mid twenties.

[00:13:26] Dal: But I wish someone had said, you know, do not try to be somebody else. Don't try to talk like somebody else. Don't try to. Mimic someone else, dress like someone else, be like someone else. Just be yourself. And if people don't like you, well that's not the people that you're to be with. There will be people that like you as you are.

[00:13:56] Dal: And you know, I realize that, you know, you can't be everything to. Everyone, and frankly the people that you are trying to say, if I'm being inauthentic that you're trying to win over, honestly, I don't know that you would ever win them over. You know, first they're probably going to see through your, facade and even if they don't, I, you know, I think it just comes off.

[00:14:21] Dal: and I don't mean this in a, visual sense, but you know, deep down in your heart, you know, when it's an act and it's the real thing. but it truly means you have to be authentic in what is authentic to me or to you or to somebody else, is not the same to us.

[00:14:40] Dal: , And so, I would agree.

[00:14:43] Hector: , Do what are some, fashion know hows. What might be some things that you've learned over the years that you know, you might impart to a, a young 30 something year old who has no idea about wearing nice clothes or wearing nice things or looking and feeling good if.

[00:15:06] Dal: , You know, first you've got to figure out what you like. I was telling a guy the other day we had, was having a, a long conversation. This guy that, runs, , a consignment store that I got a lot of stuff from, and I, I was like, a lot of young people right now.

[00:15:22] Dal: Wear something because somebody's saying, this is popular, this is in style, and I've got a son in my twenties and I remember even as a young boy, they were gonna have school pictures or some kind of school program and, my wife and him would talk about what he was gonna get.

[00:15:39] Dal: and he was always trying to get something that was in fashion right then, okay, this is what everyone's wearing. And I'm like, I have a joke. I said, have you looked at these other kids and looked how. Bad. They look, I'm sorry, I don't mean to be mean, but you know, from a, just a visual sense. It's like, what?

[00:16:02] Dal: these are the kind of pictures and, my pictures the same way. you look back at your high school yearbook and you go, oh my gosh, I don't wanna see that. And one of the things I would say fashion wise, if you're looking forward for saying, Hey, well what, do I need to look at is to say.

[00:16:18] Dal: What will this picture of me, if I take a picture of me today and I look at it 10 years from now, will I. And so, you've gotta find your own, thing. but I do not look for what's in fashion right now. What's new? I, I go to some of the stores and, I know enough about myself to say.

[00:16:43] Dal: I don't like that. I don't care. You know, the salesman says, oh, this is very popular, very pop. I really don't care if it's popular or not. If it's not me and I don't like it, it's fine. I won't wear it. , On the other hand, there's things that I'd like that may never be in style again, , and maybe haven't been in style for years.

[00:17:05] Dal: But if I look at it and I say, you know, I like that. I don't care if it's in style or not. So my advice to a younger person and I'd say style wise, is to say, first figure out kind of what you like and don't pay attention to whether or not is something that's

[00:17:24] Dal: modern.

[00:17:25] Hector: How might someone find out what they like? Because I think that's even, I'm in that stage where I don't even know what I like. I. For so long. I came from the, I'll wear a school uniform, I'll have my mom dress me, oh, let me wear whatever's cool.

[00:17:39] Hector: Oh, you know, and so there was this never a really an opportunity to develop my own style. And so, do you have any thoughts on, on how,

[00:17:50] Dal: the only thing I can say to that is just look around at other people and maybe older people or younger people. oh, and maybe even, did a few videos on what inspired me the most kind of in my fashion deal and as I was kind of trying to figure out, move out of farming and ranching and into something else, , in my mid twenties.

[00:18:16] Dal: long story, and I won't go into it, but I went to this old mansion that this oil Baron had built, and course it was incredible. I mean, it was just like out of, , the Italian Renaissance. I mean, just, just incredible. he had brought in artists from Europe and I mean, it was, this place is incredible, but one of my most.

[00:18:39] Dal: Inspiring moments was I walked out into the gardens and he had had a stump statue of his adopted son, mate, and he was wearing a pair of writing pants and English writing boots from the mid 1920s when they played a lot of polo and, and that type of stuff. And so. Honestly, Utah. I mean, it was just like, wow, obviously for a 25-year-old cowboy, rancher, farm kid, blue collar, clearly not down my line, but I saw this and I was like, wow.

[00:19:19] Dal: You talk about just hitting you as far as style goes and say what a look.

[00:19:25] Hector: I just wanna hop in there and just commend you, Dale. 'cause it's, that story is interesting. So when the listeners go and look up just you and your, your fashion and all the places, you know, go check his socials and all that sort of stuff, I thought like, oh, a regal cowboy.

[00:19:39] Hector: Like that's sort of how I, saw it was this sort of, you know, mix of, , , you know, British red Coat sort of regality and the, the rustic cowboy, you know, you sort of put that together well, , and,

[00:19:54] Dal: Well, and that's kinda my look, there's this big, I don't know whether you would call it English influence, European influence, and at the same time, just my homegrown cowboy, I. Life. And so, yeah, I don't know if I can combine them. Well, that's for someone else to decide. , I combine 'em how I like it.

[00:20:14] Dal: whether it's a, a good look or a bad look. It's my look, I guess. but here I borrowed a. that was in the mid eighties when I discovered that and the statute was made in the mid twenties. That is a look that is 60 years old when I found it.

[00:20:32] Dal: And I'm like, wow, that is cool. I mean, that is really cool. And it took a long time to get the nerve to wear something like that. It did. and occasionally it still takes a lot of nerve to go out in public like that, but, you know, I like it. and I look at it as a challenge to say, you know, I am doing what I want to do and I'm not letting.

[00:20:58] Dal: Other people's opinions dictate what I do. I'm just doing what I want. , It doesn't hurt anybody and it is expressing me and whatever,

[00:21:12] Dal: whatever that is truly expressing. And, and I'll be honest, not, to drive off the subject to another direction, but, of us and our soul that exists in each one of us that we don't know and have never discovered that, you know, sometimes I'm not even sure what we are trying to express or, our subconscious is trying to express.

[00:21:35] Dal: So, , anyway,

[00:21:36] Hector: I'm glad that you pulled on a different thread because I. Think that, think that something I am realizing is that, you know, I talk about minimizing the importance of it and I don't want to get too tinfoil hat, but I think that there is something, , intentional about.

[00:21:57] Hector: Making kids wear uniforms, whether they are intentionally depriving that uniqueness and individuality, or that is simply a byproduct of them just trying to run, you know, around a school for x amount of hundreds of years and realizing they need to keep these kids in mind, whatever. But I remember talking to, , a good friend, her name is, , Diana Divine Light is her name. And she goes to the same sort of spiritual center. I do. And she said that I always wear red because, you know, it grounds me. And she says she's always up, you know, she's someone always up in the clouds and she has all these ideas and she needs something to really ground her.

[00:22:38] Hector: And that, you know, wearing red clothes, which I made a comment, which brought up her response. And that was, it was a, something energetic and. You know, you can get as, I don't know how woo woo people wanna get, but there's something to, the energy of specific colors and whether it's colors or, I noticed you wear a lot of, , maybe, I don't know if leather is the right word, but there's a lot of, it feels very grounded. I think that guys can sort of start to see that, whether it is through the colors or the materials or, you know, whatever it is, that, there are some, larger impacts and effects, even if it's just this sort of expression that comes out with us. , But that these things are also happening too.

[00:23:24] Dal: and this might be a little off topic, but I think it's an important thing to say and that is, you know, I I'm going to, with a little swagger, whatever you.

[00:23:41] Dal: It kind of elevates life. It just elevates life. , And whether you're going say to dinner, with your family, it's not just about going, in my opinion, at least going to eat. 'cause you are hungry if you're going out. it's to make it an event and to make it special. and yeah. Whether it be certain colors energize you or certain styles energize you, it is for me, I found it takes a lot of the ordinary and elevates and, so many people, whether it be men or women, talk about.

[00:24:23] Dal: How disillusioned they are with life and their, the, their excitement in life or whatever. Clearly there is a need for a lot of people to have a lot more excitement and adventure just in the normal run of the mill, day-to-day stuff, just to somehow elevate it.

[00:24:44] Hector: Well, it, it's interesting just to contrast the ideologies. I remember hearing, I. People like Mark Zuckerberg and Barack Obama, they wear the same thing, right? I think Barack Obama was famous for having like one, one suit or one tie or something like that. And you know, Zuckerberg famously had his, t-shirt.

[00:25:10] Hector: And I remember growing up and there was the cartoon, Doug, and in the intro, you know, Doug opened his closet and he's got the same. Screen shirt and brown pants, something like that. But it was just this idea of wearing the same thing because it was easier and it was smarter and it was more efficient. And I tried that for a little while and I realized that perhaps it may be those things.

[00:25:34] Hector: And it is also, , soul deafening. It really, you know, stagnates the expression. I.

[00:25:42] Dal: Yeah, I, there is this, I would say the world, but you know, hey, we're trying to be so efficient and we are trying to be so practical in so many ways that at some point, yes, you may be efficient. Yes, you may be practical, but. Is that fun? Is that exciting? Does that, does that bring joy to your life?

[00:26:17] Dal: , Does it bring interest to your life? I know for me, if I did that, it would be sucking the life out of me. , It. And nothing against him. If that, if that's, if that's their thing. Okay, fine. I That's cool that they're, they're, , they're doing it. But to say, Hey, this, this is for everybody and this is the way it should be, , is just, well, one of, one of the main tenets of my thought.

[00:26:58] Dal: On, on life, whether it be just life as a human being or, or life as a man or masculinity is, is there so many beliefs that we just accept? Wholeheartedly. And, and, and, and a lot of times if it's coming from someone who, like Martin Zuckerberg is, , you know, incredibly wealthy, we just, we just accept it that he, he is successful.

[00:27:26] Dal: And if he's saying this is the way to do it. We do it, but, but, but we're, we're getting a lot of stuff all mashed together. 'cause the mere fact that he knows how to make a lot of money does not necessarily reflect saying he knows how to live life and, and live it in a fun, happy, fulfilling why? . Barack Obama.

[00:27:51] Dal: He's a, seems like a different story than that. He seems to be a pretty laid back guy.

[00:27:55] Dal: That's just not the way I would wanna live my life.

[00:27:58] Dal: And if that's how somebody really, truly feels on that school, that's their thing. but to set the example, and I think so many people fall right into that trap saying, if Mark Zuckerberg does this and he's worth how many billion dollars, and this must be the way to go.

[00:28:14] Dal: Does that make sense, Victor?

[00:28:15] Hector: Well, what you said makes sense. , I'm still parsing through, the programming that's out there and how they've made seem to make that make sense. One of the questions that I'm curious about is your way of integrating all the different things that you have going on.

[00:28:33] Hector: You mentioned Friday's, not the Friday's, the day that you don't go to the office, you are a lawyer, you are a, a farmer, a rancher, you're doing all these different roles and you're still doing them wellinto your life. What sort of philosophies, ideals, beliefs, , have allowed you to sustain those things through the long haul?

[00:29:00] Dal: I've always had this.

[00:29:05] Dal: I'll call it weird, strange ability to hear something or see something and even as a small child, I would go, huh, this doesn't make sense. And , if I can explain this is somewhat convoluted,but. As an attorney, I've set and I've helped lots of people do their estate plan and then unfortunately when they pass away, I do their estate administration and it is so sad to see.

[00:29:45] Dal: What people have focused on in their lifetime. This was thinking, this is important, making another dollar is important, buying another investment's important, whatever. And then ultimately seeing that all that work being distributed out a lot of times to maybe family members who don't care.

[00:30:05] Dal: So I see see through stuff. and it was just always, I'm like, why does aging, and I don't even mean aging into your sixties, but aging into your thirties or forties have to be like, people do it.

[00:30:25] Dal: And so I've alwaysbeen an introvert most of my life and still am, but I've always had this challenging aspect of me to challenge the status quo. And I don't know if this will help answer the question, but my dad died a few years ago and he was in his early nineties.

[00:30:46] Dal: And as, as he got older into his mid seventies, he would talk about how he had climbed the rope to the middle of the, to the top of the gymnasium when he was in, in junior high. and I'd worked with my dad on the farm and I knew my dad would, was an incredibly strong man. and he was outta shape though, and he was carrying probably 50, 60 pounds of extra weight.

[00:31:15] Dal: But as he got older, he would tell that story over and over and over again, how proud he was and I always thought as he was telling that story, I was like, there is no reason why. Even in his seventies, as strong as he was and as fit as he was, why he didn't just say, I'm gonna lose some weight and

[00:31:40] Dal: I could climb that rope again. And I'm like. It's one thing to brag, I did this in junior high. It's another to brag and say, I climbed the rope to the top of this thing at 75. And so I've taken of that view of life. My mother was always challenging age. She just hated aging. and I'm like, I find that I'm strong yet.

[00:32:10] Dal: And so I pushed myself and I'm like, you know what? I, , aging does not have to be like, Hey, I'm just gonna sit in my chair and watch TV and let the world pass. That's probably a very long-winded answer to your question. but a lot of it is , I am not ready to give up. I think there is so much more life for anybody.

[00:32:39] Dal: I and I, and this is going to, to even, I see kids in their twenties that act like their 50, that move, like they're 50 that are so soft. And I'm like, man. Do something and I wish I had somebody fire me up and if I would've had some inspiration in my twenties, oh my gosh, I tell you what, I'd probably be in trouble,but my gosh, there's just so much life out there.

[00:33:12] Dal: That we're leaving on the table. There is, and it's like, I am damned if I'm at this age, I'm gonna leave it on the table. , Again, I don't know if that answered your question, Hector. I know it's roundabout, but it's just this challenge to say, I don't think life has to be what so many people are living.

[00:33:37] Dal: and when you hear people talk about dissatisfaction, and it seems like nearly every guy, especially every guy I talk, it's just really dissatisfied with their life, with their career and the excitement. I'm just like, man, yeah, I know it's just not me. 'cause people are telling me this, nearly everybody I meet and it's like, man, I don't wanna be like that.

[00:34:03] Hector: Yeah, I can relate and I think one of my unique gifts is having a unique sense of empathy and compassion for you to, to the detriment sometimes. But that's in the past I. Because I, I can see how easy it is for me to be distracted. I've talked about it re on the show a couple times, but I've had to delete media for the most part off of my phone because I would just sit there and scroll my life away.

[00:34:33] Hector: it was more numbing to do that than to face. Whatever was going on that was preventing me from doing what I actually wanted to do. So instead of wrestle with my procrastination or wrestle with my fears and anxieties about whatever it is, na name it, work, career relationships, pick the place that you're not. Living to your fulfillment or your sort of going along with what everybody says you should be doing instead of doing what you actually want to do. and I can only imagine that at least the guys that are listening to this show are waking up to that. And thankfully we have people like you who are role models.

[00:35:22] Hector: And really set the who, who have been so willing to go against the grain and to stand out from the crowd. , Because you really create a new standard or create a new, you set a new standard for people to. Aspire to, and maybe they're not gonna look as good as you do, but even if they just start to care a little bit more about how they look, I think that's going to be so impactful for them and the people that they provide and protect for.

[00:35:56] Dal: I feel my calling into life is to inspire. People in, probably particularly men, how many I inspire? I don't know. I hope I inspire somebody. , 'cause I truly feel that's my calling. and I struggled with it for years. You were asking about, , finding your style.

[00:36:14] Dal: I was finding, I've struggled for years about trying to really find my passion for horses and cattle and that type of stuff. What was my calling in life? what was I put here to do?again, I don't know if my perspective is a good perspective or a bad perspective, but it's to at least say there is a different way to look at life than we are. and how many people.

[00:36:44] Dal: That helps or changes. I don't know. but I hope at least somebody does 'cause I, because I really feel, I really do feel there just this

[00:36:55] Dal: overall just sadness about the world and, we are living at a time where we got technology where we can connect with. Someone across the world with an on an instant. I love all movies. We've got movies that are recorded, that we can watch of nearly a hundred years of movies.

[00:37:19] Dal: We've got sports events. If you're like sports that are just endless. We can watch, we've got the internet to entertain us with. So in theory, and we can get on a plane and be across the world. We should be living at a point in time in our health and our health. Honestly, when I was a young man, people were dropping over dead, you know, life expectancy.

[00:37:46] Dal: I was very close to my grandfather and he got in his sixties, I was thinking, is he gonna drop dead anytime with a heart attack? And now holy hell. we got this ability that, that we can live into our eighties, nineties and in theory be pretty active people and we should all be happy about that.

[00:38:06] Dal: And there just seems to be this sadness and inability to.

[00:38:13] Dal: we need to appreciate that and somehow realize and take advantage of that. And I just feel like so many people are not. , And myself included, a lot of times I, don't get me wrong, I'll be the first to point, , at myself and say, there's a lot of times, I look and say, life's just not going like I want.

[00:38:31] Dal: And I think everybody does that from time to time. But overall, I think you gotta have the opinion that, man, there are some great things out there. We are living in a, in an absolutely fantastic time. We really are. And I think we need to take advantage of it, in so many ways.

[00:38:50] Hector: Yeah, absolutely. Dal, if I got two questions for you, , if people want to get more connected with you, follow up with you, get deeper in your world, where's the best place for them to go?

[00:39:03] Dal: Yes, Instagram is a good way.

[00:39:08] Dal: , I, you mentioned earlier, , eccentric. I have a byline. I write articles. I'm the eccentric cowboy, so I do not take offense in being called eccentric. I'll be the first to say I'm eccentric,and I embrace it. . I do have, some videos up on, on YouTube and, but probably the best way to connect with me is Instagram, and I do have a website too, dow houston.com.

[00:39:36] Dal: , encourage anyone who's interested to reach out, I'd love to visit with you and connect with people.

[00:39:43] Hector: Yeah, we'll link all that up. In the show notes, , Dal, my last question for you is, in your opinion, what is the definition of modern me?

[00:39:51] Dal: Again, I think we're living in a really cool time. I really do and life is offering us so much, and so I look at man and masculinity. I. Like a stallion. I think men like need to be like a stud horse. I do. Now, that doesn't mean running over women. I.

[00:40:17] Dal: I've got a daughter, I've got a wife that I, you know, I, and I want, my, my daughter is a very strong-willed person, and so I'm not like a lot of that stuff that you hear out masculinity saying, Hey, it means the man taking back his role. So I say it's living.

[00:40:36] Dal: Your life, what you are supposed to do. You don't need to stop on somebody else's life. Live your life on your terms. And live it hard and live it fun. , I'll say this, nice terms, grab life. Life by the testicles.

[00:40:58] Dal: So today it, it seems like so many people are judging everybody by. How success financially successful they are. And it's like financial success defines masculinity. It almost is entwined and it's got nothing to do with one another. And be a man. Be not just maybe a financial success, be a physical success, a parenting success.

[00:41:27] Dal: And I'm not talking about that old concept of being at all. 'cause you're never gonna be at all. You're never gonna be perfect.

[00:41:34] Dal: understand that.

[00:41:40] Dal: Be like a stud horse. And I dunno that, I dunno how that, that, how that comes across. but just, I'd like to physically work hard and so it's not just about intellectual thought, it's not just about physical. It's combining all those factors together and saying, I am a force of a whole lot of things.

[00:42:01] Dal: So I, that's not a very clean definition of modern masculinity. but that would, in general terms, that would be it, is to understand there's so many different aspects of us and try to be part of each one and integrate those. And again, just grabbing life by the testicles and just saying, man, I'm gonna ride this son of a bitch.

[00:42:29] Dal: As hard as I. But again, you don't, that doesn't mean you have to stomp on somebody else that, you don't have to do that. There's no reason to, a lot of that, there's this, they call the term toxic masculinity and I believe there is toxic masculinity. It's about, Hey, I. I'm going to stomp on somebody else.

[00:42:48] Dal: there's no need for that. You don't have to do that. I don't have to prove. You don't have to prove that I'm a man to somebody else. Man. Alls I gotta do is prove to myself I'm a man. That's the only person you gotta answer to is yourself. I don't have to show to. To the guy down the street or the guy in New York City or across the world.

[00:43:11] Dal: I'm a man. I.