Surrender Is Stronger Than Self-Improvement

He’s the kind of person who can sit in silence, take in a whole room, and still not give you the reaction you expected and that calm turns out to be the point. We sit down with Isaac Maser to talk about authenticity that doesn’t ask permission, why goals matter even when you’re “coasting,” and how emotional control becomes a leadership skill when life and work get messy. If you’ve ever wished you could stop overreacting and start responding with intention, this conversation gives you a grounded model for doing it. 

Then we go somewhere deeper: Isaac shares what pulled him toward the Catholic Church after a Lutheran upbringing and years of feeling like something was missing. We talk about the experience of Mass as a humbling reset, the comfort of tradition, and the surprisingly practical question of belonging. We also get into the parts people often wrestle with when exploring Catholicism for the first time like Mary, saints, praying for the dead, and the nerves around confession. 

Because we’re us, we also zoom out into spirituality and mindfulness: the “I am” behind identity, what it means to observe your thoughts instead of becoming them, and why nature can shut off the mental noise in a way nothing else does. Along the way there’s laughter, a few wild theories, and a reminder that being present with your kids might be the most spiritual practice of all. 

If you like honest conversations about faith journeys, Catholicism, personal growth, emotional regulation, and finding peace without losing your edge, hit subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a quick review so more people can find the show. What part of this conversation challenged you the most?

0:00 Welcome And Guest Reunion

0:19 A Song About Being Yourself

0:54 Goals, Family Time, And The Pond

2:18 Black Cat Energy And Communication

3:14 Staying Calm When Things Go Wrong

4:30 Why Catholicism Feels Right

9:24 Inner Faith, Nature, And Healing

13:30 Peace Over Being Right

13:51 Celebrity Holograms And Other Theories

15:16 Confrontation, Change, And Work Merging

17:02 How Coworkers Describe Isaac

20:02 Overthinking Less And Being Present

20:44 Kids, Church, And Home Debates

23:39 Closing Thoughts One Year Later

Transcript

Welcome And Guest Reunion

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome to Supernaut, where we explore the inner and outer dimensions of the self. Today Isaac Maser is on. Isaac was my second guest ever, and now my second to last guest a year later. So we have so much to talk about, and uh we're gonna talk about like his black cat energy and his deep dive into Catholicism.

A Song About Being Yourself

SPEAKER_02 0:19

I asked you to pick a song for us to listen to before we started. What song did you pick?

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Uh Hippies and the Cowboys by Cody Jinx.

SPEAKER_02 0:26

It's one of my favorite songs of all time. I'm going to a concert tonight, so it totally has me in concert mode. Why did you pick it?

SPEAKER_00 0:34

I think uh to me, it just screams being authentic to yourself, you know, and and if somebody people don't like who you are, I guess, you know, fuck them.

unknown 0:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:44

Yeah, that's your black hat energy.

SPEAKER_00 0:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:47

I love it. Um, okay, so I wanted to start with one of my favorite original Maser quotes.

Goals, Family Time, And The Pond

SPEAKER_02 0:54

Without goals, we are last souls. How did you come up with that?

SPEAKER_00 0:59

I think I just pulled it out of the thin air, honestly. It just it just came to me. I don't know. But it's true, it's true. I mean, I I seriously am a firm believer in having goals, and I think that's that's uh that's our true north.

SPEAKER_03 1:12

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 1:13

Yeah, were you just like thinking about goals and you were just like you wrote it on the whiteboard? You're like without goals, we're lost souls. Do you have any goals right now that are new?

SPEAKER_00 1:26

Uh nothing in particular. Uh try to spend um a lot of time with my family this year, this summer. Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:38

Are you still building a pond?

SPEAKER_00 1:41

I sure am. Yeah. In the in the middle of it, yeah. It's uh it goes through stages. It gets super dry, and I'm like, I'm gonna get back to it, and then it then it fills up, and I'm like, oh shit. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:52

Well, we'll have to uh see if Shelby can take some pictures. Um so yeah, you uh bought the house that my grandma grew up in. My grandma, I think, had eight or nine brothers and sisters, and it's a small house. Yeah. And still the original, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Most of it's uh original. We've done some stuff. Um yeah, a lot of a lot of landscaping, but uh yeah, we love it.

Black Cat Energy And Communication

SPEAKER_02 2:18

Yeah, that's so cool. Um, so yeah, this black cat energy that we're talking about, um, it's like opposite golden retriever energy. Like I remember when um Veda and Mazard started working together and trying to like explain to her how you are because you are kind of like it's like scary to get to know you at first because you're like very like hide your emotions, I feel like, you know? And yeah, remember when I explained to you, like, um he just doesn't talk. He'll stare at you.

SPEAKER_01 2:48

He'll just do a question and he just stares and that's it.

SPEAKER_02 2:52

And then when I told you, I'm like, just know that he thinks you can read his mind. Could that help a lot? Can we have an opinion about that? Yes.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

I guess that's one of my goals. Better, better communication with people that don't fully uh understand me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:06

I almost texted Beth last night and was like, well, we'll see how many words we get out of him. He might just stare at you.

SPEAKER_03 3:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

Yeah.

Staying Calm When Things Go Wrong

SPEAKER_02 3:14

Um, okay, another another quote is the measure of me is in how I react. And literally, you are so good at not reacting and staying calm. Like you take, you think about things before you say it anyways, let alone like in crazy situations. Like it was just, I don't know, five months ago that you were like, Beth, we're not gonna overreact about this. Like, how are you so good at that?

SPEAKER_00 3:40

I don't know. I don't know. Maybe I maybe I just zone it out. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 3:43

It just so maybe you were born, just not.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

Yeah, I mean, for every problem, there's a solution, and you just gotta figure it out. It's nothing, nothing is forever broken, everything can be fixed.

SPEAKER_02 3:58

Yeah, you just like internalize that. That's so cool. Um, okay, so yeah, and you and I are always talking about starting a mega church.

SPEAKER_00 4:07

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:08

There's so many. We like we're on a road trip and like down 95, there's like 15 megachurches.

SPEAKER_00 4:18

Yeah, and all the yeah, yeah, I I definitely think uh one is needed in more.

SPEAKER_02 4:25

Um, but so you actually just started getting into the Catholic

Why Catholicism Feels Right

SPEAKER_02 4:30

Church. So what drew you in?

SPEAKER_00 4:34

Growing up, uh definitely uh every Sunday we went to church, you know, Lutheran, uh huge part of us. Um kind of always had this inner inner struggle with with uh the faith and the church itself, and um you know just kind of always felt like there was a void, something missing. And then uh a little bit of research is kind of just kind of kicking around the idea, and one thing led to the other, and I mean now we're going to mass every Sunday, and uh that void feels like it's getting less and less. So it feels it feels good, it feels right.

SPEAKER_02 5:17

So yeah, that was one of my questions. Is it more intellectual for you or more what you feel at mass?

SPEAKER_00 5:23

Definitely both. Definitely both. Um for me, I the first time I went to mass, I mean it was a good humbling experience. It was uh I remember looking at my wife Shelby and I was like, uh that's exactly what I needed. I needed a good humbling.

SPEAKER_02 5:38

Like from the words the guy said, What does it call not a pastor uh priest?

SPEAKER_00 5:44

Yeah, yeah, all of it. Yeah. You know, people joke, you know, the the up, down, the kneeling, the exercise, you know, it's yeah, it's it's humbling. It's uh it's very, it's very good.

SPEAKER_02 5:57

And did you say, or maybe it was my nephew Nick who said, like being a part of something just bigger, like, you know, it's been around for so long, it's it's so massive. And like he said, because you can go to any Catholic church in the country and um they're gonna be talking about the same thing. That's kind of that's kind of nice.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

Absolutely, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:19

Because you're kind of like a black and white person, like right and wrong. So like I think maybe that's why you're drawn to it.

SPEAKER_00 6:27

Yeah, yeah. It's uh it just feels right.

SPEAKER_03 6:30

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 6:31

Mm-hmm. Um, what other things about it are you liking?

SPEAKER_00 6:36

I guess a sense of belonging. I mean, maybe that's a little cultish, but I mean it, yeah, it just like what Nick said. I mean, you just all Catholics seem like they're kind of just on the same page.

SPEAKER_02 6:47

And yeah, there's not so many gray areas. Yeah. Um, is there anything that you're wrestling with or haven't fully embraced?

SPEAKER_00 6:57

You know, having a Lutheran background, it's it's very similar, but there's some obvious differences like Mary and you know, the Saints and uh, you know, praying for the dead and just stuff like that. And you know, the more the more I I learn about it and and talk to actually talk to Catholics about it, um just makes makes sense. It m it makes sense. Um but yeah, just just still kind of getting used to it uh in some ways, you know, with the with the Mary thing, you know, you don't want to take it too far, you know, and but still respect respect it for what it is.

SPEAKER_02 7:41

So because what's Mary's role?

SPEAKER_00 7:44

No, she's the mother of God. Um, you know, and and and Catholics believe that uh she can kind of go up to bat for you.

SPEAKER_02 7:52

You know, she's kind of like you're an advocate for you, so you can talk to her, you can try.

SPEAKER_00 7:57

Yeah, because uh God promises everlasting life, nobody dies. So you're not talking to a dead person, you're talking to a very well and alive person, and you're asking her for uh a little bit of help.

SPEAKER_02 8:13

Do you do confessionals too?

SPEAKER_00 8:16

I have not actually done a official confession yet.

SPEAKER_02 8:20

Is it there though? Like, do you walk past it and you're like, oh, most definitely.

SPEAKER_00 8:23

Yeah, it's a it's slightly intimidating, and I'm I'm kind of worried about being a smart ass in a way, or some I'm I'm kind of I'm kind of worried about that, but you know.

SPEAKER_02 8:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:34

Might be fun.

SPEAKER_02 8:35

Yeah. Well, what do you think, Veda? Should we go check out his church sometime? Which one are you going to?

SPEAKER_00 8:42

Uh the the Catholic Church right here in Mora.

SPEAKER_02 8:46

Oh. Right on Forest. I thought mom would be going to Hinckley or something, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:51

Yep, nice and close.

SPEAKER_01 8:52

Yeah. So yeah, all my family was Catholic pre-me. So yeah, we should go. Yeah. It'll be an adventure.

SPEAKER_02 9:01

Check it out. Um, Alex from work. I don't think you've met Alex, but Alex Elhard um is going to a church in Pine City. I said I would go with him sometime. I forget what it's called. True North, maybe?

SPEAKER_00 9:14

Is that that sounds right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:16

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 9:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:17

It's been on my calendar every Sunday, but then I like move it to the next Sunday and the next Sunday. So yeah, I'll go at some

Inner Faith, Nature, And Healing

SPEAKER_02 9:24

point. But um, so as you know, I'm like more into the Eastern, non-structured paths. And um, what I've been thinking about lately is um well, also, so I like consider myself like a red letter Christian, I think is what they call it. Like, I'm into the words that Jesus said. I kind of am not about the rest of it all the time. Um, so you know, when Jesus says, I'm the way, the truth, and the light, um, I've been thinking about like if you separate the I am from the rest of that, and if Jesus is just saying, like him as a human, I am the way, the truth, and the light, like the I amness in all of us. Um, you know, it's like Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, like the truth was inside all of us the whole time. So I guess what I want to ask you is when you stepped into Catholicism, were you looking for something outside of yourself, or did it actually lead you back in?

SPEAKER_00 10:23

I definitely feel closer. Feel like it definitely wrote me back in. Um a little bit of relearning, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:36

And like, can you feel God inside of you?

SPEAKER_00 10:38

Definitely, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:40

That's so cool. Um, because Jesus also says, deny thyself, but I don't think he's saying like deny the I amness, the being of ourselves. I think he's saying deny what stops us from being fully like God's presence inside of us. He's saying deny the self that identifies with thoughts and forms and ideas and identity and stuff like that. Like, because once you let go of the all the thoughts in your brain, like what's left is just the lightness and the beingness. Um, otherwise, we'd lose ourselves in our mind and overthinking. Um, so I think, yeah, Jesus is saying deny the mind because you're the one who knows you have a mind. Um, do you ever feel that? Like when you're out with nature, when your thoughts kind of just shut off and it's just kind of you vibrating and feeling the rhythm of life.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

Definitely. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Jesus went out to the garden to meditate and to pray many times. I mean, I'm a firm believer in growing out in nature and experiencing uh God's creations and being one with it, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 11:46

My brother Mike just sent me a TikTok of um, it was a clip from Diary of a CEO. I haven't been listening to many podcasts lately. I've been like, I think it went three weeks without listening to any, which is crazy because I usually listen to a couple a day, but was trying to detox. Um, but he sent me this clip, Diary of a CEO. I don't know who this guy was that was on there, but he was talking about this kid who had some kind of cancer and had to have one lung removed, and then he was he had to have the other lung removed, but it wasn't gonna work. So they literally told this kid, like this boy, you're gonna die in two days. Like, what do you want to do for the next two days? So, of course, the nurses were gonna do whatever they could to get him what he wanted. He just wanted to be outside. That's all he wanted. Within hours, like the next day, his body started healing itself and he lived. Like so the whole clip was about how the sunlight, it was like talking about the sunlight being a big thing, like, oh, we've been lied to about sunlight, how important it is. But I'm also like, okay, or just that pure oxygen, and maybe he was probably around trees, you know, getting like better oxygen and just hearing the birds and all that. Like, usually I wouldn't always believe a story like this, but coming from that podcast, I really think it has to be a legit story. How cool is that?

SPEAKER_00 13:13

That is that is awesome.

SPEAKER_02 13:15

Yeah. Um okay, question Is it more important to be right or to be at peace?

Peace Over Being Right

SPEAKER_03 13:30

I think at peace.

SPEAKER_02 13:34

Um in Zen they say don't seek the truth, just cease to cherish opinions.

SPEAKER_00 13:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:45

Is there any uh conspiracy theories you're into right now?

Celebrity Holograms And Other Theories

SPEAKER_00 13:51

I don't I don't think so. Um not not really a whole lot, you know. It's just been uh a lot of a lot of reading about Catholicism, a lot of spending time with my children, uh, a lot of trampoline time.

SPEAKER_03 14:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:08

A lot of trampoline time. So I haven't actually had a whole lot of time to dig into anything uh crazy lately.

SPEAKER_02 14:16

But is the last time you came on it was that Taylor Swift was um what's her name?

SPEAKER_00 14:22

Oh yeah, there is no such thing as Taylor Swift. She's not real.

SPEAKER_02 14:25

Do you think she's like a hologram?

SPEAKER_00 14:27

100%.

SPEAKER_02 14:28

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_00 14:29

Yeah, she's not real.

SPEAKER_02 14:31

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 14:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:32

Cool.

SPEAKER_00 14:33

I also don't think Elon Musk is uh I don't think he's a real human.

SPEAKER_02 14:38

Well, yeah, he could definitely be alien.

SPEAKER_00 14:40

Yeah. I guess that's I don't know if that's a conspiracy theory of anything crazy, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:47

What movie did I watch growing up that like all these um singers on stage were holograms and like the crowd didn't know? It was like a kid's movie. But ever since then, I do wonder at least once a month if some celebrities aren't real, if they're just holograms.

SPEAKER_00 15:04

Definitely, definitely a possibility. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:07

Those would be the two. For sure. Um okay, in your last episode you said that confrontation

Confrontation, Change, And Work Merging

SPEAKER_02 15:16

is one of your fears. Has that changed at all in the last year? Have you had much confrontation?

SPEAKER_00 15:23

Yes. Yeah. Um, I think it's just a necessary evil. Just needs to be done, and uh, I think as long as you can find peace at the end of it. That's that's the goal. Yeah, no, I mean it's been uh life's been good so far. Um you know the two uh the two companies fully merging as one, that's been a big change. Uh a lot of a lot of crazy, interesting, fun stuff that's uh happened so far, a lot of intermingling that never happened before. Um good stuff, a lot of change though.

SPEAKER_02 16:02

Yeah, a lot of personalities um mixing together that didn't before. But you were really good at doing the research, I feel like, and uh seeing how the office sh layout should be, and you got us picnic tables and everything outside. Yeah, like yeah, really did your research.

SPEAKER_00 16:21

Yeah, it's uh it's a change, but I think I think we're finding our groove finally. Um the first week was kind of just straight up chaos. Feta can probably vouch for that. She uh it's just chaos, but yeah, I think uh I think we'll be a pretty good well-oiled machine soon.

SPEAKER_02 16:42

So anything else on your mind lately about spirituality or life?

SPEAKER_00 16:51

Not not not anything crazy, no. Just uh just kind of coasting as of right now, just loving it, living it.

SPEAKER_02 16:58

Cool. Okay. Well, we might as well just get to your words then.

How Coworkers Describe Isaac

SPEAKER_02 17:02

So I asked you to send me six or seven people I could reach out to, and I asked all those people to send me six or seven adjectives to describe you, and then I put those in a themes. And I did this because I think we're just really bad at seeing ourselves the way others do. So you picked all coworkers.

SPEAKER_00 17:22

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 17:24

And do you have any guesses of how people see you?

SPEAKER_00 17:30

Uh hopefully, like I said in text, hopefully we just land at he's all right. That's that's the goal here.

SPEAKER_02 17:39

Do you have any guesses, Veda? Okay, first word is audacious, because two people said audacious and bold, venturesome, daunting, intrepid, gutsy, edgy, willful, and take chargey. Second is focused, ambitious, disciplined, driven, diligent, resourceful, intentional, enterprising, influential, and observant. Third is reliable, because two said trustworthy, devoted, dependable, knowledgeable, articulate, and supportive. Fourth is raw, because you're gangster, boss ass bitch, swag, rough, prickly, and melancholy. And fifth is warm, humble, likable, accepting, optimistic, reassuring, caring, kind, considerate, and patient. One person said, put it simply, the type of coworker everyone wants and the type everyone should strive to be like. And one other person who didn't understand the assignment didn't just give words, he gave a whole thing. Said, Maser is a thinker. He cares, he is curious, he gets frustrated when he doesn't see how the pieces fit. He strives to always be the adult in the room. He has a hard time letting go. He always wants more. Hopefully, he doesn't die before he finds peace. So the synopsis I wrote for you is you move like someone who is never waiting for permission, chasing something truer than a title and higher than the ladder even goes, finding your footings in open spaces, horses, nature, and the stillness where clarity and God tend to show up together. So please remember you are not these words, you are not your thoughts, you are the space between the words, the space between the thoughts. You are the one who knows you have thoughts. Observe them, reflect on them, but know you are not them. Last time also you said that you hope your grandkids have firm beliefs and question everything, but are open-minded. And you said that you hope that they don't overthink.

Overthinking Less And Being Present

SPEAKER_02 20:02

Have you been working on your overthinking since last year? A year ago, and you said that's what you wanted to stop doing.

SPEAKER_00 20:13

Yeah, yeah. I think I think I've gotten slightly better at it. Uh trampoline time with the kids, just being in the moment. Definitely trying to be more in in the present with uh with everyone.

unknown 20:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 20:31

Alveda, any questions? You like told me five times in the last year that you want Mazer back on. So anything in the world you want to know now will be on record.

SPEAKER_01 20:42

How old are your kids?

Kids, Church, And Home Debates

SPEAKER_00 20:44

Uh five and two. Waylon is five, Lydia is two.

SPEAKER_01 20:49

How did they take the the church going?

SPEAKER_00 20:54

Um, you know, at first leaving leaving our home church, uh, it was it was a little challenging for my son. Um, because he's used to going every Sunday and seeing our extended family. And so that was a bit of a challenge for him was not seeing those uh individuals. But he's definitely getting getting used to the new one, and uh he likes he likes the music at the new one. Yeah, it's it's fun watching him.

SPEAKER_02 21:22

Oh, Catholics have fun music? I thought it would just be like really strict tiny.

SPEAKER_00 21:27

Oh, yeah, they have Catholics have fun. Okay, Catholics Catholics have fun.

SPEAKER_01 21:31

Yeah, I mean bat. We'll have to see. Is it something that it like at home is religion something that's talked about amongst you guys?

SPEAKER_00 21:41

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:41

It's it's uh like deliberate conversations or just kind of general?

SPEAKER_00 21:46

Um it's just it's just who we are. It's a part of you know, there's there's you know, all all the way from the walls, there's you it's you see it, you feel it. Uh that's we talk about it with the kids, absolutely. Um, my wife is amazing at teaching our kids. Uh very, very blessed to have her. Um yeah, she's she's a huge, huge reason why we're so so uh faithful.

SPEAKER_02 22:16

Yeah, I was thinking about her today and how I feel like she was born to be a mother and a caregiver to them. She's so gentle, such a gentle soul.

SPEAKER_00 22:27

We could go with that word. Yeah, no, yeah, 100%. Yeah, she is, she is, she's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 22:32

Yeah. Um, so your mom had you debate for an hour every single morning when you were growing up about a certain topic. When are you gonna start that with your kids, or are you not going to?

SPEAKER_00 22:46

Definitely, definitely want to do that with my kids. Um, I think it would definitely serve them well. Um also just kind of enjoying the the piece right now. I think the biggest the biggest debate of uh is is popsicles or no popsicles and why should we eat popsicles right now?

SPEAKER_03 23:08

So loving it.

SPEAKER_02 23:11

That's cute. Yeah. If he was 15 right now, what would you want to debate what would you want him to debate on?

SPEAKER_00 23:21

I think any anything he wanted to. I want him just to be who he is and and never never uh be afraid to share his thoughts with me.

SPEAKER_02 23:32

So anything else I need out?

Closing Thoughts One Year Later

SPEAKER_02 23:39

Okay, well this was super awesome one year later. Change will be drastic watching both episodes. Thanks for coming.

SPEAKER_00 23:53

Thank you.