Most months it's exactly that. Men talking about the things men mostly don't......relationships and where they get stuck, saying what you mean without it turning into a fight, what being a dad asks of you, how your health and your sleep set your mood before you've even had coffee.
Every so often I bring in someone who cares about men's mental health and is actually doing something about it, so you'll hear from people worth hearing from without anybody standing at a podium for three hours.
Nobody lectures you. You're in the conversation, not watching it. Come alone or bring a mate. No experience required, no story you have to be ready to tell.
I'm doing this so this city has a room. Not just any room......a room for when it gets hard, with men who've been there too. If a man in New West is struggling, I want him to already know it exists.
That was the proof. What happens next gets decided by the men who keep showing up.
Men who want to run this with me rather than just attend it, picking venues, greeting new faces, keeping the thing running on the months I can't. No experience required. What matters is whether you want the next man to walk into a room instead of an empty one.
If that's you, say so in the group chat, or come find me at the next brunch.
Jhöl Unger, founder of The Mensdate Project. Author, men's mental health advocate, carpenter by trade. He lives and works here in New West and he's at every brunch in person. Turn up not knowing anyone, come find him.
The Mensdate Project is a federally registered Canadian not-for-profit working on men's mental health. We're not a clinic and this isn't therapy, we're men at a brunch. If you want professional support, we'll gladly point you toward it.