Your Head is a Houseboat

Your Head is a Houseboat by Campbell Walker

A self-help book for people who aren’t into self-help book. The front cover of Your Head is a Houseboat sets the tone for the book you’re about to read. It combines an illustration of a chaotically overcrowded houseboat with the promise of mental clarity, and I’ll admit, this got me intrigued.

Open it up, and you’ll find the book you might expect if you asked a cartoonist to write a self-help book, which makes sense, because that’s what Campbell Walker is. The bread and butter of the book is hilariously contrived metaphors. The central one is the titular houseboat: you live on it, and it’s on its way to a destination of your choosing across the open seas. It’s important, then, to do some regular tidying and maintenance on your houseboat to clear out the junk and keep it livable.

Walker populates your houseboat with a cast of ridiculous characters: unwanted party guests are spouting criticisms you’ve heard throughout your life; the fears and anxieties that hold you back are sock puppets controlled by a well-meaning but ultimately unhelpful octopus; your desires and goals are officers fighting over command of the ship.

It may look and sound like nonsense, but buried amongst the bizarre analogies and quirky caricatures is some genuinely helpful advice. Walker is at his best when he’s giving you practical tips. The deeper he tries to reach into the human psyche, the messier and more overstretched the metaphors become. But don’t let that put you off! Before he gets lost in the sauce, he walks you through journaling for clarifying your life goals, negotiating your conflicting wants and needs, and silencing your inner critics using kindness and compassion. Advanced psychology this is not, but if you’ve tried denser, more jargon heavy self-help books and none of them stuck, Your Head is a Houseboat might be the antidote you’re looking for.

Find Your Head is a Houseboat by Campbell Walker

Irene