“I am someone who turned dung into fertilizer, because I was able to emerge successfully from traumatic situations that I experienced in my childhood,” he says. Mario Massaccesi during his talk with NEWS. “My responsability It was rebuilding and repairing myself.. Alone, asking for help, with therapy. Being able to leave that place and not resent it, not resist it, accept it as it was, allows me to walk very lightly, I have no pending things left. That doesn’t mean that at times it doesn’t hurt,” he adds.
He speaks without rancor, like someone who has worked hard on his story and managed to transform pain into a vital impulse. He is a man of action who likes to diversify. Journalist, host, ontological coach, writer, speaker, he won two Martín Fierro. He currently hosts “TN Central” and “En Síntesis” on El Trece and “Massaccesi que never” on La Once Diez.
In addition, he forms a successful duo with the psychologist and master coach Patricia Daleiro. They are authors of the books “Let go to be happy” (2020), “Jump to good living” (2021) and the recent “Get out of fear”. Together they have a podcast, give workshops and talks, do theater performances and organize “meaningful trips.” They also usually hold talks in the Los Hornos prison and in Florencio Varela through the Restorative Justice Civil Association. In addition, they are responsible for MyP Consultores, where they assist people, companies and organizations in transformation processes.
News: When you talk about traumatic situations in your childhood, are you referring to poverty?
Mario Massaccesi: There were much more serious events. I do not tell them publicly to preserve that wounded child that I was. Poverty was another condiment or added to the helplessness that I felt.. He couldn’t put words to what was happening to me and he couldn’t ask for help. I remained silent until I was 33, when I dared to tell someone. I don’t tell it, furthermore, because I don’t want to be about what happened to me but about how much I did from what happened to me.
News: He is resilient.
Massaccesi: Absolutely, and by sharing it many people can realize that it is possible. If someone wakes up we’re done.
News: What other strengths do you recognize in yourself?
Massaccesi: The constancy; work, I am a great worker, I love working, I really enjoy what I do; joy, I am a very fun guy; taking my time, I am a person of slow processes, of firm but slow steps; and I am very peaceful, I do not look for conflict. I entered life through deep waters, I already know what a crazy sea is. Now I’m looking for calm.
News: What are your weak spots?
Massaccesi: It’s hard for me to say no. When you are resilient you believe that everything is possible, but you have to learn to say no. It’s also hard for me to get angry, to put the points together. I get angry, but I block it, I don’t express it. I should get angry and show more character.
News: What is this moment in your life like?
Massaccesi: Serene on the inside and very active on the outside. I always liked to diversify.
News: You say that journalism saved you. About what?
Massaccesi: When I was eight years old and the circumstances occurred, which lasted for several years, I was already clear that I wanted to be a journalist, work with Mónica and César, be part of a news program and travel a lot. At the same time that there was hell and a lot of darkness in my life, I played every day in the yard of my house at what I wanted to be. And it was a salvation. On the other hand, every time I said: “I’m going to work with them, I’m going to work on that channel, I’m going to travel a lot,” my mother told me: “You’re already acting like an artist, stop talking nonsense.” Perseverance saved me, I always knew that it was possible to make my dreams come true. Journalism saved me in all the ways a person can be saved. It allowed me to take care of something, to believe that there was a utopia, to move towards my dream, it gave me consistency personally, it gave a direction to my life and, furthermore, it became a concrete fact.
News: How much did it cost you to build a career and get to the place you occupy as a journalist?
Massaccesi: Nothing. I lived it with so much enthusiasm that every step, every achievement in my career was a surprise. I didn’t make demands, I let things happen. I’m not a goal obsessive. I think about them, I dream about them and I start walking. I don’t focus on the future but on seeing what I have today and I make small decisions. That’s why the road is much longer.
News: At one point he decided to study ontological coaching
Massaccesi: Yes, it was a period where there were many internal changes in the channel and I was left only with the evening newscast. I had time to spare and I started by chance, on the recommendation of my hairdresser. I had no idea what coaching was. Yes, I had done many seminars on inner recognition, the Art of Living, spiritual retreats, silent retreats, therapy. Everything that coaching offers as theory I had already put into practice without knowing that I had coached myself. For example, accept, put words to it, check what the difficulty is in taking the next step.
News: Regarding his latest book, “Getting Out of Fears”. What fears did she manage to overcome?
Massaccesi: The fear of other people’s gaze; the fear of not being able to be someone in life, of not feeling fulfilled. The fear of not being accepted; the fear of not fulfilling dreams. The fear of not being able to speak, there were so many years of silence that the silence began to scare me. All of that was present, in addition to the guilt, shame, and horrible judgments he said about me. I was my worst enemy.
News: What fear accompanies you today?
Massaccesi: The fear of not being able to. That I cannot continue on this path of possibilities that I am generating and that are happening. Let something interrupt this torrent of beautiful life that I have.
News: What is your concept of happiness?
Massaccesi: It is the ability to solve what is presented to us and enjoy what is presented to us, sometimes as a challenge and sometimes as a pleasure.
News: What did you have to let go of to become happy?
Massaccesi: Fear, shame, guilt, judgments, silence, commands. I come from a family that I love, but from a mother who choked to death from throat cancer, because she couldn’t say that she had had a maiden daughter who was not our aunt but our sister. I watched her die with her throat exploding. When she left my mother, I, who was still within my silence, said: “There is no more time to wait, because tomorrow may be too late to say what you have to say.” I had to take charge. My mother’s death was one of the most painful moments of my life, but it was also the great mastery of realizing that I did not want to repeat that story.
News: What are meaningful trips?
Massaccesi: They are experiences to enjoy other cultures, beliefs, lives. It is also an inner journey towards that which you can let go and transform. I clarify that to transform it is not necessary to travel, you can also do it from the living room of your house. In April we did Thailand and Vietnam and now we did India with a group of 18 people. Later, with Patricia we went alone to Nepal for five days.
News: How was the experience?
Massaccesi: I had traveled to India four years ago and this time it was amazing. It is a country so challenging, so intrepid, at times insolent, and so loving. It’s like a magic wand that gets into the most secret place in your life and starts scratching there. Wake up incredible things. A very healing trip. On the last day in Varanasi, we had a letting go ceremony at sunrise, on a barge on the Ganges, so that the river would take away what each of us considered. Was strong.
News: Nepal?
Massaccesi: It is like entering a cone of silence, the noise of Nepal has another symphony. I was struck by how faith sustains this country, which is one of the poorest in the world. It is full of flowers, rituals, blessings. They focus on who they are because it is the only thing they have. There is a value of being that in the West we do not have. In Nagarkot, a small town closer to the Himalayas, we saw how people gather to watch the sunrise and sunset, and they are very grateful for those moments.
News: Do you have much to be grateful for?
Massaccesi: Yes, I met very good people, I am very good too, I generate those types of links. Many people helped me, like my neighbors in Río Cuarto who let me go see “Mónica presents” when I didn’t have a television and they gave me a plate of food. They even made him silent so he could watch TV. I don’t forget that anymore.
News: How did your love life go?
Massaccesi: I am a happy bachelor because I chose the path of singleness. I would like to give myself over to a couple experience, but I still can’t find what door needs to be opened for that to happen. I never saw myself in the concept of family. I always had a very independent life. Love as a couple was never among my priorities. Yes, I have very good and dear friends.
News: How would you like to be remembered when you are no longer in this life?
Massaccesi: As a friend told me: “You are a guy who always makes you want to be around, because even if you are silent, you always add up.”
