#83 | The Wild Birth of Young Men - Miki Dedijer

My guest today is Miki Dedijer, a writer, ecologist, and mentor devoted to the ancestral arts of belonging, fatherhood, and grassroots initiation.

In our conversation, Miki invites us to look at the crisis facing young men and the absence of meaningful adulthood in our time. He speaks to the ecological and emotional consequences of failing to initiate the young, how untempered fire in boys becomes turmoil in families, and how communities have lost their memory of what it means to guide the next generation.

Together we explore initiation not as an event, but a cultural responsibility. Miki shares how rites of passage serve life itself, how they awaken responsibility in parents and mentors, and how inviting others to help mature a child becomes its own act of initiation.

We touch on the longing that erupts when boys are unmet, the loneliness of a culture without elders, and the courage required to guide a child into a larger story.

Miki reminds us that initiation is not about control. It is about stewarding a young man’s genius back into the world. It is a return to the village, a remembering of our place in the weave of life, and an invitation to rebuild the cultural vessels that once shaped humans capable of serving a cosmos greater than ourselves.

Register for an upcoming webinar: FROM SCREENS TO SOUL: Raising Embodied Young Men (Dec 2)

You’ll learn how to help steward your sons toward this deeper connection — how to anchor them in their bodies, nurture their love of the living world, and prepare them for future relationships that are grounded, heartfelt, and capable of holding real intimacy. This webinar offers parents and mentors a way to guide boys toward a young manhood shaped not by algorithms, but by aliveness.

LINKS

* Miki’s Official Website

SHOW NOTES

* 00:09 Miki describes where he is and the seasonal mood on the west coast of Sweden.

* 02:52 His early work as an environmental journalist and the shift toward quieter, place-based stories.

* 04:38 Moving from grand narratives of saving the world into intimate, relational, land-rooted life.

* 12:28 The pine tree story and how tending the land taught him the meaning of belonging.

* 17:04 Entering fatherhood later in life and wanting his sons to grow up rooted in place.

* 18:24 Burnout as a turning point that reopened childhood vitality and led to cultural mentorship.

* 21:39 The guiding question: how do we steward children well through life’s stages?

* 24:07 Recognizing and honoring childhood stages long before adolescence arrives.

* 26:32 Why initiating teenagers may be the most ecologically responsible act we can take.

* 27:15 How asking others to help mature a child initiates the adults themselves.

* 31:05 What happens when a culture fails to initiate its boys.

* 37:15 The tensions Miki encountered guiding his own sons and how conflict became tempering.

* 54:04 Why integration after a rite of passage is essential for families and community.

ADDITIONAL EPISODES

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