This is a deeply personal post about my late mother and my relationship with her.

You might ask, “Why are you sharing this?”
The main reason is to put my thoughts and emotions into words, to honour my beautiful mother.

And maybe, just maybe, my story will inspire someone out there to reach out to their own mother while they still can.

Many men only confront their emotional well-being after a crisis hits. This article delves into the cultural conditioning and biological factors that lead to emotional avoidance in men, and offers a powerful path toward proactive, courageous inner work. Learn how to break the cycle of waiting for pain and embrace a new definition of masculine strength.

The compassion fatigue you can't see!
We talk about burnout in healthcare and first responders, but what about the invisible compassion fatigue that lives quietly in our daily lives?
It's the friend who's always available to help, the caregiver who's forgotten what it feels like to laugh, the empath who absorbs everyone's pain until they can't sleep at night. It's become an alter ego, so integrated into who we are that when we try to set a boundary, people say "That's not like you!"
My father once carried 50 men from a burning psychiatric ward to safety. Heroic? Absolutely. But it also shaped how I learned to give, always going above and beyond, often at my own expense.

I thought being kind to myself was weakness. As a man, I was taught to push through and be strong for everyone else. But after years of burnout, I realized something had to change. This is my honest journey from emotional exhaustion to discovering what self-love actually means for men. It started with the hardest thing I'd ever done - asking for help. Self-love isn't selfish, it's necessary. Because how can you truly show up for others when you're running on empty?