Stories of mental and emotional wellbeing told by men

Maureen Taylor with the first book of her trilogy. Photo / Rebecca Mauger

Kiwi blokes sometimes struggle to talk about their feelings the way women do.

An Ōmokoroa author has written a book to highlight their experiences. Bloody Inspirational Tips and Stories is a self-published book telling the real stories, in their own words, of 19 men by Maureen Taylor.

The stories address the mental and emotional wellbeing of the men in their life stories, the obstacles they’ve endured and overcome.

Taylor has always found it interesting, and sad, that traditional Kiwi blokes are expected to be stoic. She had always wanted to write a book.

‘’To be fair I didn’t know if men wanted to talk to women about their personal stuff. And I am talking about the deep, meaningful stuff.

‘’But I think I got more stories from the men being a woman, than if I had been a man interviewing them.“

She thought there was an opportunity to get the stories out there, from men, for men, in a way that would resonate with them.

‘’When you hear the stories you think ‘wow, you’ve really been through all that’. Sometimes they’ve ended up in tears telling me their whole story.

‘’It [helps] there is some sort of medium where we can show blokes that they are not the only ones going through a hard time and you can come out the other side.’’

The opportunity to find subjects for her book arose when Taylor and her husband decided to travel the country with their caravan in tow.

The mammoth trip took two years and the entire length of New Zealand.

A few of the story subjects were found via local newspapers — including registered social worker Scott Harvey. He spent his weekends parked up in Te Puna in his car asking people if they were okay, and to ‘’stop for a yarn’' (Katikati Advertiser April 27, 2023).

Therapist Scott Harvey is one of the men featured in Maureen Taylor’s first book.

Taylor feels many of her life events have led her to the point of wanting to do something positive and eventually write an inspirational book.

When she was in the Navy she was told she might have three years to live because of a blood disorder. During her time as craniosacral therapist she worked with the I Am Hope charity which opened her eyes to the stress and anxiety suffered by young men.

So far 150 copies of the book have sold in two months.

It is intended to be a BITS trilogy. Up next will be a book on women’s experiences followed by a book on teenagers. Profits from the book go towards research for mental and emotional wellbeing.

The couple will be hitting the road again soon to interview women.

To purchase a book or to be considered as a subject for a future book, visit BodiWellness Facebook page

Rebecca Mauger is the editor of Katikati Advertiser. She’s been with NZME for more than 20 years in a variety of journalist roles including adwriter, community reporter and entertainment/lifestyle magazine writer.