🏄‍♂️ EXCLUSIVE CHAT: Blakey Johnston

The incredible Blake Johnston joined Jonesy & Amanda to chat about his new book, Swellbeing.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
My Heart podcasts here, more Gold one on one point
seven podcasts.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Playlists and listen live on the free iHeart app and
Amanda jam Nation.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
We love our next guest. You like to think of
him as a friend of the show. As Jonesy said earlier,
he's a world record holder that he's spent forty grueling
hours in the water for the longest continuous serf. He's
an all round champion, and not just on the board,
but he is a mental health warrior as well. His
Pender memoir called Swell being Everyone Deserves to Feel Awesome.

(00:41):
Lake Johnston Hello.

Speaker 3 (00:43):
Hey guys, thanks for having me this morning.

Speaker 4 (00:45):
Always a treat to talk to you, bro, Always a treat.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
Have we draged you out of the surf, NA, not yet.

Speaker 3 (00:51):
I've been waiting to this phone call because i just
really wanted to speak to you, guys.

Speaker 4 (00:56):
I'm glad and I just want to ask you a question.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
I spent a lot of time in the surf, possibly
not as much time as you do, but lately I've
just been a bit uneasy, just with the spate of
shark attacks that we had. Am I being a bit
of a panicky pa. It's about this. Do you think
how do you feel.

Speaker 3 (01:11):
Like I'm a bit reckless and I feel something a
bit eerie about it at the moment too, you know.
And there's obvious signs, lots of fish running, lots of
sightings and the whales around. It's just there's something a
bit unusual about it. So I'm definitely treating it with
a bit more caution than I normally would.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
Your story is quite extraordinary and as I said, you
are a warrior for mental health. You started this journey
through a tough personal experience with the loss of your dad.

Speaker 3 (01:39):
Yeah, I did. I did, And I just think that
it's so important. I think that mental health isn't a
thing that we talk about. It's the thing like, without
being able to function in our daily lives and show
up for ourselves and the people around us, we've got nothing,
you know, like, and I think it's it's an ongoing thing.
It's not just a day or a celebration or a
talk about it. It's actually put putting it into use.

(02:01):
And you know, take an action for yourself and for
people around you.

Speaker 4 (02:05):
What is that action?

Speaker 1 (02:06):
What do we what do you suggest we do?

Speaker 3 (02:11):
I'm just doing the small things, the habits and being
aware of, you know, doing things with the attention for ourselves.

Speaker 4 (02:16):
Like, it's not one way to do it.

Speaker 3 (02:19):
Everyone's going to have their own ways to make themselves
feel better and feel connected. But yeah, I've got my
own little swell being routines and tools and strategies that
I use that you know, if someone takes them away
from the book a couple of people can improve their
lives because of it and see the best in themselves,
then it's a win.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
I've often found that it just it's like listening to
people about what they're saying. Like I remember I was
out in the surf one data were made of mine.
I said, how are you being here?

Speaker 4 (02:44):
And he told me it's a horrendous story.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
He had witnessed a brutal assault that had happened in
his work and he just told me the story.

Speaker 4 (02:50):
And at the end of it, I said, oh my god,
that's the worst story I've ever heard.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
And he said, you're the first person that's actually not
tried to up my story. And yeah, I saw a
guy stabbed once, or I had to make them was
stabbed or whatever. And he said, you're the first person
that actually just sat there and said that's a terrible story.
I've never heard anything as bad as that, and it
really taught me a lot about that to you the day,
not trying to one up one story when they say something,

(03:14):
because that's what Australians do. You know, you hear a
terrible story and you yeah, well I had to make
that ad that was worse. We're a nation of black
cat is. I've got a black cat. I know mine's blacker.

Speaker 3 (03:25):
Totally. But it does get overlooked because it seems so simple, right,
but you're either you're listening, but are you really hearing
it and feeling their story, you know, and being a
bit empathetic towards them as well. I think that there's
a lot of power in that. And then when you
do that, when you become empathetic to yourselves and have
you know, good practices and habits, you become empathetic to

(03:46):
other peoples. You be able to understand why they are
feeling the way they are and be able to be
there and listen and help them through those situations if
they need it.

Speaker 1 (03:54):
And also the thing you were just saying then, too, Jonesy,
was just to listen. Like I think, maybe it's a
male trait to want to fix things. But sometimes just
to let someone tell their story and say that must
have been horrible. Sometimes that's all it would take, I imagine.

Speaker 3 (04:09):
Yeah, definitely, just just just letting them have that moment
where they're actually accepting the situation that happened around them,
and to say it out loud and get out of
their head. You know, we get so caught up in
our heads we're just thinking over the time, and we
never really when we get it out and say it out,
then it's going to make us feel a lot better
and we work through it that way as well, rather

(04:29):
than holding it inside.

Speaker 1 (04:31):
Have you got something crazy planned for me?

Speaker 4 (04:34):
Yeah? What's the next?

Speaker 1 (04:35):
What's the next blaky joing in space?

Speaker 4 (04:41):
No? Not quite.

Speaker 3 (04:42):
But my wife, my awesome wife, she said to me,
I'm only allowed to do a record once every two years,
but we blew that out of the water this year.
I just finished the world record in the wave Paul.
I did the most surfing anyone's ever done. I rode
four ninety seven waves in twenty five days. So it
was ridiculous in the ten degree water. But the facility
out there at home Bush is amazing and open surf.

(05:04):
But yeah, I've got something planned and it's not until
twenty twenty seven.

Speaker 4 (05:09):
Yeah, let me guess.

Speaker 1 (05:10):
Does it involve the water? Somehow involves the water.

Speaker 2 (05:15):
Is going to be Blaki Johnson sitting on his lounge
for four hours. You would be able to do it
because Bathist is on Sunday. Mate, you can come round
of my place and watch it if you want.

Speaker 1 (05:23):
Challenge that stay out of the water for that long.

Speaker 3 (05:27):
Stee you on the lounge for forty hours. That would
be a real challenge for me.

Speaker 2 (05:31):
That would be tough for you, Blake. It's great to
talk to you again. Blake Johnson's Swell Being is available
now in all good bookstores.

Speaker 4 (05:38):
Always great to catch up with you.

Speaker 3 (05:40):
Bro legends. Thanks so hopefully you guys can get in
the water and look after yourselves.

Speaker 4 (05:45):
Man, take it easy, Blake Johnson. There