It can be pretty hard to pull yourself out of bed on a Monday morning, hard not to press snooze more than once and even harder to convince yourself an early morning exercise regime is by far the greatest idea since last night’s second bottle of red wine. I hate the word Mondayitis but the reality is way too real; Monday’s really do suck (at least on the majority). It’s not often Monday brings a sparkling motivation to drink your latte and respond to all emails with an intern-inspired smile and overly enthusiastic zazz for office life, rather you scroll your Facebook feed waiting until you can break for lunch.

We want you to know we’re here and we understand the struggle, and, with so much cool shit happening around us all the time, we wanted to list out some of this weeks top picks. So, while I cannot guarantee this post will enhance your day or your week, we sincerely hope you learn of something you didn’t know before, enjoy.

‘Afterglow‘ by Asgeir

He had some big shoes to fill after his first, originally Icelandic titled album ‘In The Silence‘ was released in 2014 and it’s quite incredible to hear of turbulent times and the natural progression to the becoming of his new album. After immersing heavily into Sigur Rós‘ 1999 album Ágætis Byrjun he said “It made me feel better when I was feeling homesick and just wanted to be home – this album took me a little closer to home.” Listening to Afterglow, it’s tough not to be drawn in through deep melodic sounds, painting an isolated landscape somewhere in off-beat Iceland with his softened voice streaking shimmers of light through the sky. His new album is not only a testament to his musical abilities but an incredible self-portrait of a 24-year-old man from a tiny Icelandic town with a population of 40 reaching the global stage and still not losing site of where he calls home.

A—SPACE: Studio Launch

Built on the reality that humans see more and more people are finding it hard to cope with their day to day lives, A-SPACE was created wanting to change this. They want to support people struggling with the demands of careers, relationships and everyday life to better connect, communicate and collaborate with themselves and others through meditation and mindfulness practices. Introducing A-SPACE, “a meditation studio that helps people become the best, most vibrant version of themselves.”

If you’re a Melbournian, then you can find the brand-spanking new A-SPACE studio at 5 Glasshouse Road, Collingwood. The place looks rad and the people are even radder, so roll on down and show some love!

North Journal: Issue 13

If you’re unaware, North Journal is a quarterly, bigger-than-A4 story telling platform that aims to bring culturally connected people together on a local and international scale. Launching summer 2013/14, they’ve been growing beefier with each edition they do, continually showcasing some of the raddest and most-often-than-not, inspiring content from the local streets to the overseas cats. And, now that autumn is upon us, so is the latest edition from the guys at North – introducing issue 13!

Best thing about North is every edition is free, so get your mits around your own copy today as it’s available in all places that serve good coffee – view the stockists here

Monday mightn’t be so bad after all hey?