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Wow It's All a Lot: 32 Reminders to Smile While Navigating Your Way Through Life
A heartfelt celebration of not quite having life figured out.
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.
PRAISE FOR WOW IT'S ALL A LOT
'Wonderful and heartbreaking at the same time' Em Rusciano
'Sam has a knack for making the heaviest things feel light' Briony Benjamin, author of Life Is Tough But So Are You
'The kind of wisdom that only comes from living through challenges ... he has been where you are and has made it through' Chris Cheers
'Makes me feel understood in a way few others do' Anna Spargo-Ryan
'Sam's messaging is beautifully encouraging, relatable and aspirational. A gift to our homes and bookshelves' Dr Amy Thunig, author of Tell Me Again
'A call to go inward, to feel deeply, and to recognise and appreciate the messiest parts of our humanity' Hannah Ferguson, Cheek Media Co.
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.
PRAISE FOR WOW IT'S ALL A LOT
'Wonderful and heartbreaking at the same time' Em Rusciano
'Sam has a knack for making the heaviest things feel light' Briony Benjamin, author of Life Is Tough But So Are You
'The kind of wisdom that only comes from living through challenges ... he has been where you are and has made it through' Chris Cheers
'Makes me feel understood in a way few others do' Anna Spargo-Ryan
'Sam's messaging is beautifully encouraging, relatable and aspirational. A gift to our homes and bookshelves' Dr Amy Thunig, author of Tell Me Again
'A call to go inward, to feel deeply, and to recognise and appreciate the messiest parts of our humanity' Hannah Ferguson, Cheek Media Co.
- GenresSelf Help
144 pages, ebook
Published July 5, 2023
2 people are currently reading
19 people want to read
About the author
Samuel Leighton-Dore
7 books9 followersSamuel Leighton-Dore is a multidisciplinary artist and writer based on Australia's Gold Coast.
His first solo exhibition 'Fragile Masculinity, Handle With Care' formed part of the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras program for 2019 and deconstructed popular notions of masculinity through ceramic works, LED neon, painting and illustration.
His first book of illustrations 'How To Be A Big Strong Man' was released in Australia in August.
He writes about sexuality, gender and mental health for SBS Life and contributes to media outlets including Buzzfeed, Junkee, Pedestrian TV and Huffington Post.
His first solo exhibition 'Fragile Masculinity, Handle With Care' formed part of the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras program for 2019 and deconstructed popular notions of masculinity through ceramic works, LED neon, painting and illustration.
His first book of illustrations 'How To Be A Big Strong Man' was released in Australia in August.
He writes about sexuality, gender and mental health for SBS Life and contributes to media outlets including Buzzfeed, Junkee, Pedestrian TV and Huffington Post.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 2, 2023
A lovely little book with bite sized nuggets of wisdom. Not a page turner but a book to savour, one tile at a time. I especially liked 'you don't have to read the news today' and 'care more, mind less' and the explanations that accompany each tile. Thank you Harper Collins for my review copy.
March 28, 2024
This book felt like Samuel dug around in all the dark corners of my brain and then gave me the biggest, warmest hug all at the same time.
I’ve followed Samuel on social media through The Smile Tiles for a while now, but having it in book form, with more words to accompany the beautiful tile? It’s just perfect.
A book I pull out every now and again, when I need it. I have tabs on certain sections so I can flip right to it and read.
I’ve followed Samuel on social media through The Smile Tiles for a while now, but having it in book form, with more words to accompany the beautiful tile? It’s just perfect.
A book I pull out every now and again, when I need it. I have tabs on certain sections so I can flip right to it and read.
November 14, 2023
I began rolling out these earthenware tiles alone in my kitchen, etching phrases into them that I needed to hear. .. The tiles by no means represent how I live my life, but rather how I'd like to live it one day. Which is to say: they're aspirational but ultimately, I hope, relatable.
Wow it's all a lot
Hey at least we have each other
Rest you beautiful busy weirdo
Old you would be stoked with present you
Wow it's all a lot
Hey at least we have each other
Rest you beautiful busy weirdo
Old you would be stoked with present you
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews