Wow Its All A Lot

Rediscover the joy in every day with these artworks and essays about mental health and human connection.

This is a book for anyone going through a tough time.

It’s about celebrating the middle bits – the messy, awkward, uncomfortable bits – while navigating our way through the uncertainties of life.

When Samuel Leighton-Dore began rolling out clay tiles and engraving words into them, he had just been diagnosed with complex post-traumatic stress disorder. After years spent in therapy waiting rooms, searching for meaning, encouragement and guidance, he turned to art to better understand who he was and why he was, slowing down to rediscover the joy and humour in the everyday.

Samuel’s artwork and writing celebrate all the messy bits of trying to navigate our busy lives. Life, like the tiles themselves, can be hard and fragile, so it’s okay to be a ‘work in progress’ and not have everything figured out all the time. His writing is relatable and comforting, like the world’s biggest hug from a friend. It’s also funny, sad, hopeful, inspirational and ultimately drawn from his own experiences with mental health and human connection.

Perfect for fans of Life Is Tough But So Are You, Your Head Is A Houseboat and Hope Is A Verb, with a foreword from psychologist Chris Cheers.