Episode #21 feat. Matt Domyancic

What happens when an ex-SWAT officer and first-responder chaplain arrives at the rites, only to find that the hardest part is holding space for other men trying to "fix" him?

In this twenty-first episode of Follow Me to the M-R-O-P!, host Brian Mueller sits down with Matt Domyancic for an incredibly raw and unique conversation about his initiation in Big Bear, California. Matt shares his perspective as a high-alpha, former football player and cop who had already spent decades diving into psychoanalysis, silent retreats, and spiritual direction before arriving at the rites.

Episode Highlights

• The Helper's High: Why men need to trade their desire to "fix" others for an experience of mystery and awe.
• The Myth of the Father Wound: Matt's experience of being pushed to manufacture trauma, and the beauty of honoring a good father.
• True Inner Work: Why shooting guns, crawling in the mud, and doing cold plunges isn't the deeper spiritual work men actually need.
• Butterflies in Formation: A powerful sports psychology lesson on jumping off the platform and embracing communal vulnerability.

Episode Specific Links

Matt Domyancic:

• https://www.tacticalchaplain.com
• https://www.instagram.com/thinbluelinespirituality
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-domyancic-b7203b6

"Helping, Fixing or Serving?" by Rachel Naomi Remen, MD:

• https://www.dailygood.org/story/218/helping-fixing-or-serving-rachel-naomi-remen-md

Links & Resources

• Choosing Presence (Sponsor): https://choosingpresence.org
• Practicing Presence App: https://choosingpresence.org/app
• Illuman MROP page: https://illuman.org/mrop
• Adam's Return by Richard Rohr: https://amzn.to/3PzVESH
• Brian Mueller (Host): https://brianmueller.com

Credits

• First and foremost, thank you to Matt Domyancic for sharing his journey and his heart with us today.
• Thank you to Fr. Richard Rohr and the men of Illuman who have stewarded the Men’s Rites of Passage since 1996.
• Thank you to Jim Heaney and Jim Taylor for their dedication to Choosing Presence.

Music Credits:

• Slow Mo Dreams by Soundroll
• Becoming a Legend by Vens Adams