Where to from here?
When I started Get Out in Hobart, I was lonely, part-time, and determined to build a simple bridge between people and their local communities. We’ve built it — and it works. What comes next depends on you. Should we add people, add time, or add investment? Tell us how you connect, what you care about, and where we should focus so Get Out serves real needs, not assumptions. Help shape the next chapter.
Am I OK? A True Answer for R U OK? Day
For years my answer to “R U OK?” was no. I numbed, I spiralled, and I couldn’t picture life getting better. One honest sentence — “I’m not OK” — led to 30 days in hospital and a slow rebuild built on therapy, movement, and showing up. Today my answer is yes. If yours isn’t, borrow my belief and start with one conversation. I’ll listen.
Wear It Purple, Wear It Proud
Wear It Purple isn’t about cupcakes — it’s about belonging that saves lives. Growing up in Tasmania, I learned to mask fear by overachieving. Today, I wear purple so rainbow young people see what I couldn’t: ordinary, safe, proud futures. This piece shares the why, the youth reality, and simple ways schools and workplaces can make it real.
How to Rebuild Friendship: Small Habits That Stick
I tried to optimise my way out of loneliness; it didn’t work. What has: being kinder to my brain and treating friendship like a practice. This field note blends neuroscience (micro-delights, cognitive appraisal), queer midlife reality, and six repeatable habits that make showing up easier — and connection stick.
The Real-Life Reset
The less time I spend online, the more my life feels like mine — better sleep, warmer friendships, finished projects. Research shows why: screens promise connection but often fuel loneliness. This piece swaps performance for presence, with five “micro-freedoms” to trade screen time for real time (device sabbath, outdoors by default, one ongoing group, embrace friction, host tiny). The algorithm can wait. Your people — including you — can’t.
Dry(ish) Is the New Deep: How Drinking Less (or Not at All) Gave Me My Life Back
I used to outsource confidence to a drink. Quitting didn’t turn me saintly — it made me steadier. With more people rethinking alcohol (and data backing the shift), this is the sober-ish playbook that rebuilt my energy, friendships, and self-respect: morning anchors, clean-fun rituals, social plans that don’t revolve around booze, and a kinder way to “start again.” No preaching — just practical steps for a life that feels like yours again.
Future-Proofing Your Heart and Mind: The Queer Case for Loving Your Body, Your Brain, and Your Relationships
The habits that keep love steady are the same ones that protect your brain and heart: move often, eat well, stay connected, argue to understand, ask for help. For queer lives with shifting safety nets, this isn’t self-improvement—it’s maintenance for the long haul.
When the Bot Becomes Your Best Friend: AI, Validation, and the Risk of Losing the Real Thing
AI can feel safer than people — instant feedback, no judgment. But when a bot becomes our go-to for comfort and advice, our real-world connection muscles atrophy. This piece unpacks the benefits, the risks, and a better way to use AI without losing the human skills that make life work.
Filling the Silence: Loneliness, Party Culture, and the Search for Something Real
Despite the queer community’s reputation for pride and celebration, many gay men are quietly battling loneliness. This piece explores how apps, parties, and even substance use can become placeholders for connection — and why building real belonging might mean looking beyond the usual spaces.
Still Showing Up: Impostor Syndrome, New Chapters, and Building Something That Matters
Building Get Out while navigating a new job, a new city, and old patterns of self-doubt has brought up one uncomfortable truth: impostor syndrome doesn’t disappear just because the mission matters. In this reflection, we explore what it means to keep showing up — even when you’re not sure you’re enough — and why that’s exactly the point.
Too Good to Scroll: On Time, Loneliness, and the Lives We Don’t Post
Feeling like time is slipping away? You’re not alone. In this reflection on loneliness, presence, and digital burnout, we explore how rediscovering purpose — not productivity — can stretch time again and help us live more deeply in the moments that matter most.
Wander Lost: When Was the Last Time You Just Went for a Walk?
When was the last time you just went for a walk — no agenda, no headphones, no steps to count? In a world that rewards hustle and highlights, walking offers something quieter: presence. This reflection explores awe, queer solitude, and the small, rebellious joy of moving through it instead of escaping it.
The Sleep That Saved My Sanity
For years, I thought I was just tired. In reality, I was unravelling. This is the story of how sleep — real, restorative, fight-for-it sleep — helped kick-start my sobriety, regulate my emotions, and bring me back to a version of myself I actually liked.
Single, Secure, and a Little Bit Scared
You’ve built a life you genuinely love — quiet, content, full of meaning. But what happens when the thought of letting someone in feels more like a threat than a thrill? In this honest reflection, we explore the quiet joys (and quiet fears) of thriving alone, and why real connection doesn’t have to cost your peace.
Younger Than You Feel, Older Than You Look: Why Time Feels So Weird Right Now
Is it just me, or does everyone feel both 25 and 75 at the same time these days? Drawing on the concept of "subjective age," this piece explores how queer time, personal trauma, and post-pandemic reality warp our internal clocks — and how we can find meaning in the mess.
The Intimacy Recession: Why Gen Z Isn’t Having Sex — And Why That’s Okay
As sex rates drop and online intimacy rises, are we witnessing a crisis — or a quiet revolution? From antidepressants to algorithms, this piece explores what it means to want less sex, how desire has evolved, and why choosing connection over performance might be the most radical act of all.
Working Out, Showing Up: Why Doing Hard Things Together Makes Life Better
In Working Out, Showing Up, we reflect on the quiet, life-saving power of doing hard things together — from sweating it out in group fitness classes to giving back through community volunteering. Drawing on the Effort Paradox and the timeless idea that doing good feels good, this piece explores how shared effort transforms loneliness into belonging, and how showing up for others helps us show up for ourselves.
When It Feels Like No One Would Miss You — Finding a Way Back to Yourself
A raw reflection on loneliness, queer community, and what it means to keep showing up — even when it feels like no one would miss you. We share how Jung’s pillars, modern research, and the story behind Get Out offer a gentle roadmap for building connection, purpose, and a life worth staying for.
The Strength of Not Taking It Personally
In this reflection, we explore what it really means to stop taking the bait in a world wired for outrage — especially for LGBTQIA+ people who’ve learned to brace for judgment. From workplace digs to family jabs, this piece blends lessons on self-control with the quiet power of choosing where your energy goes — and where it doesn’t.
The Power of the Queer Locker Room
In this piece, we reflect on how mainstream sports culture can isolate LGBTQIA+ people — and how queer-friendly teams offer more than just fitness: they offer safety, spark, and belonging. Backed by research and personal experience, this article explores how sport can become a powerful antidote to loneliness, and a practical tool for community connection.