Al Talks Men's Mental Health
Lifestyle
This last month I completed Movember and it’s got me thinking about mental health and the way it affects everyone young and old. It’s something I am continuously working on and am aware of in my own life and those around me. Life has so many ups and downs and we all go through different challenges and hard times and on the flip side we all have some really great times as well. For me I try to acknowledge the good times when I’m in them and to be present.
For me I try to acknowledge the good times when I’m in them and to be present.
So many people are suffering with mental issues and don’t know how to manage. Imo and I have already lost too many friends to suicide which is devastating that each of them couldn’t find a way out of their issues and see a light at the end of the tunnel. As a teenager I was very depressed for a little while, I was using drugs (mainly weed) as a way of numbing the feelings I was having and it turned into the main problem itself. I decided one day that I wanted my life back and didn’t want to be this person I’d become and so I stopped smoking weed after a couple of years of heavy smoking. Within a few months I was feeling happy again and my family and home life had improved a lot. It took a lot of effort but it made me realise that being happy isn’t always easy, it takes work and determination and discipline. I was far from living the perfect lifestyle but I had made a tremendous leap in the right direction.
As the years have gone on there have been many more life lessons that I have had to learn and many times of having to be self aware and figure out what’s best for my mental health and how to manage. So here’s a list of a few of the things that I practice to help out with living the life that I want to live and maintaining a healthy mind.
5 things that help me keep a healthy & happy mind.
1. Acknowledging feelings & being open
First would be acknowledging your feelings when they arise. This is massive! Being aware of how your emotions are affecting you is so important. It’s cliche to say but if you don’t control your emotions your emotions control you. Whenever I feel myself getting frustrated or aggravated I try to understand why, if it’s a disagreement with someone, I’ll try to see their perspective and if it’s just something that I’ve done and am annoyed at myself I just try to see how I can rectify the problem before it goes on too long. On the flip side if everything’s great, it’s really worth stopping and smelling the roses! Acknowledging the good things can turn your whole life around and realising what you do have rather than focusing on the negatives.
2. Physical Exercise
Secondly I love to do physical exercise. As a kid I was on my skateboard from morning until night. Now I love to surf and lift weights. The mental clarity I get from being physically active is 100% essential in my life and something I never compromise on no matter what.
3. Meditation
Another thing I do is meditation. This one is big for me as well. Before we had Goldie and our dog Weenie it was so easy to fit a 10minute meditation into my day and I did it around 5 times a week. Now I fit them in when I can, and it’s probably more important now more than ever to carve out that window of time to have to myself so that I can be present and be the best dad and partner I can be in this new family lifestyle we’re in now. This really helps with the first point about acknowledging and being aware of my feelings and presence around others.
4. Socialising
Next would be socialising. After the last couple of years we’ve all had with lockdowns I think this one is more apparent now more than ever. During the lockdowns I took on a lot of work and exercised a lot to stay sane but the whole time something was missing and that was being around friends and family and the ones I love. It’s so important to have people to talk to and share life with. After all we tend to remember all the big occasions like parties and weddings and being with other people as some of the best times in our lives!
5. Purpose
And finally the last one would be having a purpose. For me now I have a lot of purpose in my life, I have a beautiful wife, a daughter and a dog that all need me every day. I have a business that takes a lot of hard work and determination to make sure it keeps growing and stays exciting.
All of these things take a lot of discipline and hard work to figure out but they are the main things that keep me pushing on in life. And I am always grateful that I have the choice to decide how I want to live my life and being happy is the choice I try to make every day. Anyways if you’ve read this far thanks! Hope it’s been interesting.
Cheers, Al
Lifestyle
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Hey! We’re Al + Imo
We’re a husband and wife duo, building our dream life one DIY project at a time. We are proudly self-taught, furniture-makers, business owners, designers and stylists.
DIY RUNS IN OUR DNA
We firmly believe what you learn should be shared which is why we created our Journal. A place where you can learn new skills and be inspired by other creatives.
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This holiday season I’ve teamed up with Cricut to create DIY personalised Christmas gift sacks for Goldie and all of her little friends. This is a really fun project and I know the kids will enjoy them for many years to come. I hope this inspires you to get crafty this holiday season and from my family to yours Merry Christmas!
In Freshwater Creek, where we also live, we combined our own talents, along with our family and friends to create a day focused on love and fun and showcased our DIY skills in spectacular style.
We were stoked when iconic Australian brand, Blundstone contacted us to design and make plinths to display their boots in retails stores. It was a complete shift in the workshop from making beds but a really fun and creative project to get stuck into. We took the opportunity to use different materials, learn new skills and test new techniques.
Looking for last minute DIY wood projects that would be great woodworking gift ideas? Check out these easy woodworking projects and plans for beginner woodworkers to pro woodshop owners.
I’m so excited to share this project with you and hope it inspires you to re-love something of your own, click through to watch the full video.
This week it is Al's turn in the workshop and we thought we'd build something we've always wanted - a timber ladder for either blankets or towels.
We decided to build a chest of drawers that could sit a removable change table tray on top so that we can continue to use it forever. The beauty of this plan is once you learn how to build a set of drawers the possibilities are limitless!
This week we decided to create a simple timber floating shelf coat rack. This is a great woodworking project for an entranceway, kitchen, bathroom or kids room!
We have a sneaky suspicion that we’ll be spending a lot of time here so we wanted to create something beautiful that we’ll be able to hold onto for all of our babies. The tray is designed to sit on top of set of drawers - plans available for this project too!
This is a super simple DIY sewing project perfect for beginners which we love for any room in the house. We’ve created digital patterns that you can print off and step-by-step instructions for this project which can access here.
This is a super simple DIY project perfect for beginners. We love this for any room in the house and you can easily adjust the length measurement to suit any space.
This is a collection of our go-to meals of the year, recipes we've had passed on to us and some that over time we have tweaked from recipe books. I’m planning on gifting these as part of our Christmas presents and starting a tradition of adding new recipes each year. This is a really simple gift idea that is creative and from the heart.
This is a great project to make for yourself, or to make as a Christmas gift for someone that loves to cook.
I love this project as it’s affordable, quick to whip up and the finished product looks really beautiful. This is a great project to make for yourself, or turn your children’s flowers into art or give as a gift leading up to Christmas.
For this week's DIY Project as part of our Christmas Gift Guide Series we thought we'd make a nice BIG Grazing Board that is perfect for those who love to entertain (like us).
This is such a simple project and great gift idea that encourages outside play in both adults and children!
This was a DIY project requested by so many of you when we put the word out asking what you wanted to see us build! Simple timber picture frames that you can build yourself at home.
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We wanted to give our rental kitchen a mini makeover by replacing the metal door handles with beautiful timber ones. This is a super easy, quick and budget-friendly DIY home improvement project that you can whip up in an afternoon.
We’ve had this mirror ever since we inherited it from an old share-house. We’ve always said we’d make a new timber frame for it and we finally got around to doing it.
We picked these stools up a few years ago, although a quick, cheap and regretful purchase we couldn’t bring ourselves to just toss them out - so we thought let’s try replacing the tops with beautiful solid hardwood and see what we get.
It’s Winter here in Australia which means Al and I will be wearing our boots all day - everyday. This DIY project is a really practical item for our home here on the farm in Victoria as it gets quite wet here and we are constantly treading grass and sawdust from the workshop to our house.
Over the weekend we sanded back and re-sealed our dining room table. A couple of hours work and we now have a dining table that looks brand new again.
We asked you to request a DIY project for us to do and plant stand came in a bunch of time so we decided to get give it a crack. This is a great beginner project, you can use scrap timber you have laying around the house and it’s super easy to customise the design to fit your pots.
This surf board rack has been a long time in the making and we've finally ticked it off our list of things to do! We decided to round the edges which we've provided instructions for - it's a little tricker so definitely worth having a go if you want to challenge your woodworking skills. If you want the quick and easy, skip the routing and just go with the straight edges
This spice rack was a weekend project we did a while ago and anytime it appears in one of our photos or videos we get asked if we sell it. We are renting our house and storage in our kitchen is a problem. For us we really wanted to build something that maximised our bench space while making sure we didn't need to add any permanent fixings.
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This is an all-time favourite recipe, it’s full of flavour and really doesn’t take that long! Just make sure to prep all of your ingredients first! You can also substitute the seafood for chicken thighs or puffed tofu.
This recipe came from a friend’s dad, we’ve been cooking it for years and it’s a staple in our kitchen throughout winter. I love cooking this whenever we’re sick or on a cold, rainy day. This was also a meal I prepped before Goldie’s birth and enjoyed postpartum.
We received this recipe a couple of years ago from our friend Jess, it's a meal that we love and have on heavy rotation. You can pack it out with seasonal vegetables and the leftovers can be eaten with eggs for breakfast!
Honey and Bacon… name a better duo… this breakfast is an absolute winner! Sweet, salty and perfect for when you want that cafe experience in your own home.
I remember going to the same cafe everyday and ordering a tandoori wrap in India. This is my interpretation and always a total crowd-pleaser.
There’s no denying that Al and I absolutely love eggs! We are very lucky to have access to farm-fresh golden eggs from our neighbouring farms! One of our go-to breakfasts is a delicious omelette packed full of flavour. The below recipe is what we had readily available in our fridge but you can definitely substitute any of the ingredients with your own.
The one thing that I found really helped during my first trimester was drinking a smoothie in the morning before getting out of bed which I continued to do into my second trimester. I highly recommend giving this recipe a go if you’re finding is hard to get out of bed.
After a quick morning coffee with our neighbour Marissa up at Freshwater Creek Cottages we were sent home with a tray of eggs from their chooks and a pile of beautiful herbs from their veggie garden. It only felt right to whip up some delicious fritters with a zesty yoghurt.
Inspired by a breakfast we ate two days in a row on a recent trip to Daylesford. Baked eggs with all of the good stuff - we’re pretty sure you could eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
We made one of our all-time favourite Ottolenghi recipes which is his Turkey and Sweetcorn Meatballs with Roasted Pepper Sauce, we had leftover sauce so we thought we’d create a delicious breakfast dish around it. I make these flatbreads all of the time, they are particularly great with Indian dinners!
Stacks on baby!! Basically a super simple oven-baked sweet potato rosti stacked with a pile of deliciousness. A really easy and tasty breakfast when you want that cafe experience in your own home.
This is a really super delicious, healthy and easy breakfast recipe that we whipped up with leftover vegetables that we had in the fridge - packed full of flavour and a great way to feed a large group (or one Al who eats enough for 3 people).
Ok - stay with me here. One of our absolute favourite side dishes is maple syrup roasted brussel sprouts - we eat them for dinner, lunch and now also for breakfast. Not surprisingly these translated beautifully to a morning treat!
These pancakes are on high rotation in our household - not only are they absolutely delicious but they are also healthy! The batter is made up of bananas, oats and eggs… so you can treat yourself without the guilt!
Sometimes there is nothing better than a big breakfast - the key to nailing the BB? Using really good produce! This is our take on the always-satisfying Big Brekky all made from locally-sourced produce!
Inspired by a Jamie Oliver carbonara recipe we thought some of the ingredients would translate well to a breakfast dish. This is really easy and so packed with flavour!
Al was in charge of making breakfast this morning so Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict was the pick! This is a great substitute for a cafe breakfast which I know we’re all craving at the moment (insolation coops are real).
An experiment that turned out pretty good! We were inspired by cans of beans and a pasta sauce we found in the pantry and used up all of our leftover vegetables. This would be great for breakfast, lunch or dinner and you could probably just use whatever you have laying around.
This recipe is inspired by one of my favourite breakfasts from a cafe called Caffiend in Cairns - every time I travel home I visit and order this breakfast. I’ve made it up from my memory and I think our rendition was pretty successful!
I was strolling through the supermarket and was stopped in my tracks by these beautiful looking tomatoes and thought why not whip up a simple breakfast bruschetta? This is a really quick, simple and satisfying meal.
We felt like treating ourselves… and what’s more indulgent than butter? A really simple but seriously delicious breakfast that will leave a yummy taste in your mouth all day long!
A bit of a crowd-pleaser…. the kind you feel good making and eating. This breakfast is a total winner - super easy, delicious and healthy as hell!
A great way to use up all of those leftover vegetables, a healthy and delicious meal for either breakfast, lunch or dinner.
The potato hash is absolutely delicious and we were surprised at how easy they were to make!
Nothing fills up our cup more as a family than heading out for a walk together. The track from Bells Southside to Bells Beach is one of our favourites. For anyone searching for a good dose of nature this is it, it’s usually pretty quiet - maybe because it’s not suitable for prams… so get your front packs on mummas and pappas and enjoy!
I spotted The Bootmakers Cottage in Birregurra on Instagram, only half an hour from our house it looked like the perfect place for our first family holiday! We spent our time rugged up by the fire, eating food and soaking in the tub - what a perfect location for my first bath with Goldie!
The Lon Retreat is a luxury hotel and spa located in Point Lonsdale on the Bellarine Peninsula in Victoria. What a perfect place to spend our ‘Babymoon’ AKA the last holiday just the two of us we’ll have in a while.
Imo grew up in Cairns and we’ve lost count the amount of times we’ve travelled back to visit friends and family. Far North Queensland is filled with beautiful places to explore and is a perfect holiday destination for nature lovers.
Daylesford is a favourite weekend holiday destination for those who love nature, design and food! We couldn’t help but share our stay at the beautifully considered Room and Board Airbnb which is perfect for couples wanting a quick getaway.
Before we moved to the Surf Coast we used to spend every weekend driving down here to surf. We would wake up early Saturday morning and hit the road - stay as long as we could and drive back to Melbourne. And if the surf was really good we’d wake up on Sunday and do it all over again. We moved in September 2016 and haven’t looked back.
What a hidden gem… only an hour from Melbourne’s Westgate Bridge, close to the epic Surf Coast beaches and on the way to the Great Ocean Road.
If you haven’t heard of this place before, than this is our gift to you - do yourself a favour and get Unyoked.
We chose Sri Lanka for our honeymoon, here’s our guide on eating, surfing, adventuring and relaxing.
ON THE JOURNAL
Building a backyard pizza oven from scratch using fire bricks, a simple dome mould, and refractory cement. Follow our step-by-step process and get inspired for outdoor entertaining, wood-fired cooking, and DIY projects at home.
A wall bed (also known as a Murphy bed) lets the room function as a studio most of the time, but quickly converts into a comfortable bedroom when guests arrive. Here’s exactly how we built ours.
How we built a handmade dollhouse using upcycled furniture, miniature furniture, and creative DIY details, inspired by family, play, and imagination.
We recently bought an artwork from Bluethumb and i’ve curated a collection of my favourite finds. Plus, get 5% off your purchase with code alimo5. Discover original art by Aussie artists online.
If you’re building your own little library or looking for the best books for babies and toddlers, we’ve pulled together a list of our all-time favourites. These are the ones we’ve read on repeat - the ones that always end up back in little hands.
We installed four VELUX FS Fixed Skylights (780 x 1180mm) into our pitched Colorbond roof to replace LED panels and bring in natural light. See how we did it using custom The Skylight Warehouse custom flashing kits.
After years of searching for the perfect doona, we finally found it—Bonny Doona. Soft, breathable, and made for all seasons, this is the ultimate bedding upgrade for a restful sleep.
Discover how to style your home with art and collected objects in a way that feels personal, curated, and cohesive. Follow these five simple tips to create a space that tells your unique story.
Check out how we turned an old cubbyhouse we found on Facebook Marketplace into a cafe to inspire imaginative play!
See how we transformed $100 Facebook Marketplace dining chairs into timeless hardwood beauties. A sustainable upcycling project that saves furniture from landfill while creating unique, durable pieces.
Imogen Gilchrist
Imogen Gilchrist is a creative director, Squarespace website designer and social media strategist who loves good design & good people.
Building a backyard pizza oven from scratch using fire bricks, a simple dome mould, and refractory cement. Follow our step-by-step process and get inspired for outdoor entertaining, wood-fired cooking, and DIY projects at home.