I moved out of home young in an attempt to escape the neglect and the perpetual fear that comes from having a drug dealer for a father. To survive, I lived off charity, government handouts, and part time work to get me through high school.

Every Day Cary is a term typically reserved for the military, survivalists and conspiracy wackos. Basically, it’s a culmination of all of the things that they carry with them each day.

Each item has a utility and multiple functions. A good daily carry has a certain aesthetic to it: minimalist yet sexy. Functional, high quality and tough.

Guns. They carry a lot of guns…

My relationship with coffee is tumultuous.

In small measured doses it is extremely helpful – focus, energy and motivation levels all increase – it allows me to sit at my laptop and just work.

In large doses however, coffee is crippling. I have a history of mental illness: long years of dealing with past trauma manifested as anxiety, depression and addiction…

There is a trend towards political correctness that has been playing out over the last few years.

What was once funny and acceptable is now considered downright offensive.

Recently JK Rowling has faced backlash for ‘transphobic’ tweets. This has led to her being totally vilified and her master work being pulled apart for other such issues…

I am happy to say that I am learning social skills from my 1.5 year old. His unabashed confidence and ability to just make friends has blown me away.

True, I don’t approach strangers and show them my toy train collection, or teach them how to go “Sh sh sh”, but I am starting to use some of the methods of connection that my son is naturally demonstrating …

What you eat directly impacts your metal state. Put simply, the better you eat, the better you will feel.

I spend a lot of my time researching and experimenting to find what works to best guard my mental state. I want to do everything I can to ensure that my mood is stable and that my mental health is improving over time …

As a young child, I was sexually assaulted. As a grown man, I openly talk about it.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I first decided to share my story with the world. Talking about sexual assault is widely considered a taboo subject. There is a tremendous amount of stigma, harsh judgement and disinformation …

On the night of my father’s death, I actually had plans to visit him. If these plans were not changed, I may have been the one to discover his passing and in doing so, prevent his neighbour from breaking in and robbing his lifeless corpse ...

The key to overcoming the fear of failure is to realize that if you don't attempt it, you have failed by default. If you don't at least try, you have already failed...

"You may be in an echo chamber and not even realise it.

Most people talk with people who share similar views to them. The articles, blogs, videos and posts shared tend to be of a similar nature to what they already believe.

Consider the websites that you visit, the social media platforms you frequent, the forums that you post in and the people you associate with online. How often do you hear a dissenting view? Moreover, how often does that dissenting view gain traction and change opinions? Have your opinions ever changed on a strongly held issue based on online discussion?..."

"Typically, we don’t leave a relationship until it becomes so bad that the truth of the situation is truly undeniable.

However, by then, we have been beaten down and are broken by the relationship’s turn for the worse. Our confidence levels are shattered and we may have the symptoms of a plethora of mental afflictions – we are anxious about the future and depressed about ourselves. Our self-worth drops so low that we feel like staying is the right option because ‘they are the best someone like me could get’ or ‘at least I am lucky enough to have someone’..."

To understand how a vegan may feel, try to imagine a world where human corpses were on display in the meat section of a supermarket, or that the eating of humans was casually discussed multiple times per day in conversation.

The problem comes when these feelings are projected and forced onto unwilling and unsuspecting ears. This is often met with anger, annoyance and confusion...

If you are currently pregnant and wondering what to buy and why, this is for you. It covers what you should buy prior to the birth in preparation. As baby gets older, you will need to get more things, but by then you will know what you need...

"It was like releasing water through a dam. It felt like if I didn’t cut, that my mind would crack, with devastating results ..."

In the months leading up the birth of my first child, I noticed something strange occurring. Almost everyone that I told the news to had the same reaction. First, they congratulated me, then they proceeded to tell me endless stories of the horrors of childbirth and fatherhood.

They would share tales of sleepless nights, never ending inconsolable crying and the mountains upon mountains of poo that regularly explodes out of nappies. 

All of this combined in my mind to create a storm of anxious rumination. As the pregnancy progressed, my mental health steadily declined. I would bounce between dissociation and anxiety with a dash of regret thrown in there.

This is the post that I wish was available to me during that time.

Reflecting on my experiences with anxiety leaves me with a one sentence, anxiety killing mantra:

“Anxiety is a liar and it’s taking up too much of my life”.

I want to prove it to you. Consider the following questions:

- When has it ever been as bad as you thought it was going to be?
-How many times have you worried about something that just has never occurred?
-How many anxious thoughts do you have about one thing - could each possible outcome come true?
-How many times were you anxious before an event, only to be completely fine during the event?

"People often excuse a behaviour if there are extenuating circumstances.

We tend to forgive, downplay or simply ignore it, because we realise that the person doing the behaviour is going through something significant and therefore are ‘not themselves’ at the moment..."

You are what you eat: that’s obvious. But have you wondered how social media affects your brain?

It is very hard to un-hear something. Once you have been exposed to an idea, it is impossible to remove the stain of that idea out of your consciousness. 

You can try and counter it, to disprove it, to ignore it or to fill your mind with other thoughts. Regardless, once it is in, it is there forever. Whether or not you asked to have that piece of information is irrelevant...