Welcome to Volume Two of the Lightkeeper’s List!

This is a list of all the people and things that are my Lightkeeper’s – shining out there, keeping the light on for me.

It’s been a few months since I started this list and I have uncovered so many amazing people and things that I am keen to share, but I won’t overwhelm you all at once! 

• Charlie Mackesy on Bryony Gordon’s Mad World podcast – It’s no secret that I adore Charlie Mackesy as an extraordinary artist and genuinely caring human. The same goes for Bryony Gordon for all her work for mental health advocacy and charity. Put them together on Bryony Gordon’s podcast Mad World and it was magic! Listening to this podcast episode was moving, profound and sad at times, highlighting the reality of life and how we come to find our creativity and art as a result of difficult circumstances. Charlie’s honesty is beautiful and he tells such heartwarming stories with his heart on his sleeve and a humble, gentle nature that is rare and is very much needed in the world. If you haven’t read it already, check out my Book Therapy post on Charlie Mackesy’s breathtaking book, The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse.

• The Comfort Book by Matt Haig – Speaking of books and incredible mental health advocates, how could I not include Matt Haig in this list?! Matt has recently released his new book, The Comfort Book! This is the book we have all needed in the last two years with the global chaos and anxiety that it has triggered. Matt has generously shared all his short snippets of wisdom and practices he has learnt over the 20 years while he has been dealing with his mental health conditions. There are so many helpful and grounding suggestions throughout this book, and it is perfect for picking up and choosing a few pages to read at a time. His straightforward manner really comes through to remind you that sometimes your own mind can mess with you, we live in a crazy stressful world that may not be good for us sometimes (oh, how often we forget this), and how to step back and care for ourselves when we need it. I read this book while I was at the coast and you will definitely have seen it featured in some photos already on the blog! 

• SBS Documentaries: What Does Australia Really Think About… Disability, Obesity and Old Age, Osher Günsberg: A Matter of Life and Death, The Truth About Anxiety With Celia Pacquola, and Lost For Words
  (Trigger warning: suicidal ideologies, mental illness).
  
  A major shoutout to SBS for their documentaries lately! SBS have been delivering the goods with diverse and very inclusive documentaries on topics that aren’t talked about enough, even though they affect so many people in Australia and around the world. The best thing about these documentaries is it shows that we are all a ‘work in progress’. The shows are made by presenters who haven’t ‘reached’ the end of their journey and know how to fix all the things that are going on. They are still working through it too and there is a comfort in that as a viewer to know that you are both along for the ride together.
  • Starting with the incredible mini series, What Does Australia really Think About… which focuses each episode on Disability, Obesity and Old Age. Kurt Fearnley is an exceptional host of the Disability episode, challenging the beliefs and attitudes of Australians about and towards disability, with research, questionnaires and experiments. This is a great gateway show into learning about disability; explaining ableism, the medical and social models of disability, and what we can do to be allies for disabled people. 
  • Osher Günsberg: A Matter of Life and Death investigates mental illness, support systems and the science that will make a huge difference to so many people living with mental illness. Even though it is a difficult topic, the show is so well presented that conveys a hopeful feeling for our future knowing what research and technology is on its way. 
  • The Truth About Anxiety With Celia Pacquola was really interesting to watch, as I am a huge Rosehaven fan, it was so grounding to see her as she is and that life is not just all a comedy. Celia has some really thought provoking interviews with people around Australia and shows us that taking care of our mental health is a daily exercise, and not just when it’s starting to cross the borderline. 
  • Hosted by literacy advocate Jay Laga’aia, Lost For Words is all about tackling illiteracy in adults, due to learning conditions or interruptions in their childhood education, and how learning as an adult is a different process than as a child. This show was fascinating as a literacy lover and as someone who has a learning condition to work around with reading and writing.    

• Childhood by Roo Panes – I’m going to finish up today with a new song by one of my all time favourite musicians, Roo Panes. It is a classic Roo Panes song with gentle melody and harmonies, his signature poetry style lyrics and the music video is a glorious step back in time from a ‘60 year old collection of family holiday film reel in the attic’. It was instant love. This song went straight to my favourites playlist! I hope you enjoy a little moment of nostalgic bliss from Roo. 

Whoever makes the summer bloom
When I grow up, I wanna be like you
I thought, "I love all the things you do
So when I grow up, I wanna be like you"

Childhood - Roo Panes

What has been brightening up your days lately? Please leave me a comment below and share the goodness! 

Take heart, Readers. I’ll keep the light on. 

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