Week 4: Free Your Mind…And Your Bits!

First up this week, I went fishing with the amazing Steve Biddulph. Not only has he raised his own kids but he’s helped half of Australia raise theirs as the bestselling author of Raising Boys and Raising Girls. I’m not sure he’s much of a fisherman as we didn’t get a bite but I learned a heap about parenting boys. So…a good day at the office and a quick trip to the fish and chip shop on the way home to feed the family. Happy days.

From no fish to no clothes… ‘Noga’ as the crew were calling it – is naked yoga. I didn’t know it was nude until the day before. I have no problem being nude, but my family wouldn’t have it (Dad on national telly, naked – no thanks!). So in an effort to give the idea some honour, I did it in my undies.

Turns out, noga isn’t for me, but I loved the guys and I totally get why they’re doing it. I think in life we often have our guard up so this is one time where you are stripped of all that and it becomes almost normal.

Then on to do something I’ve put off for nine years. To have ‘the talk’ with my mate Angus’s wife Penny and her daughter Lucy. Angus’s death was such a shock to me; I wanted to find out if it had crept up on them as well, and to see how they’ve been coping. And if I’m to be honest, to see if they maybe had, after all these years, some answers. Both Penny and Lucy were so open and patient with all my questions. There were tears of course (mostly mine) and I came away with a much better understanding of Angus.

When I started this journey I thought Angus was the least likely man to take his own life but as I listened to the closest women in his life I started to understand that he experienced so many of these ‘stoic’ Aussie male traits that stopped him seeking help. It was painful to hear but made me even more determined to try and change things up for Aussie men.

Next week I’m heading out to the country to meet a sheep farmer who is getting country blokes to open up and the Temora Men’s Shed, where the old blokes are threatening to teach me a thing or two about DIY. This could get pretty ugly!