My essentials: Lisa Gauci’s cultural picks
No 36 | Lisa Gauci, 16, student, artist

1. Book
A book that I’ve read recently that struck me was ‘It Ends With Us’ by Colleen Hoover. It is a book that speaks about the difficulties of a person found in an abusive relationship, and it is a beautiful story which teaches many lessons about love and hate, I truly recommend this book. I had found out about the book from TikTok, where a video gave a brief description of the story, and I was intrigued. One thing that I learnt from this book is that when it comes to love, you always have to listen to your heart and do what makes you happy.
2. Film
A film I’ve watched recently was ‘Dirty Dancing’, a classic movie I had been wanting to watch for a while. It’s quite a unique film that shows how one can discover a talent that they had hiding inside them and let it become a part of their life if they work hard enough. I recommend this film.
3. Internet/TV
Nowadays on the internet as well as on TV, we get to see many different things from all around the world but one article that caught my attention lately on social media was about the change in climate and how the world is still not realising how little time we have left before it is too late to return to how the world used to be. Ever since I was little I used to enjoy watching National Geographic, and now it pains me to see those animals that I used to watch suffer, all because of us.
4. Music
When it comes to choosing my favourite artist or song, I always have trouble. Many artists inspire me and who I look up to in the industry, like Billie Eilish and Freddie Mercury. Currently, if you asked me which is my favourite song, I’d probably choose ‘Space Song’ by Beach House. I love the unique sounds and melody of the songs and although some might find the lyrics a bit vague, I find them calming and relatable. I found out about this song a while ago and I still listen to it, mainly when I’m going through a bit of a rough time.
5. Place
I’m a person who loves nature and travelling, although I didn’t get to visit many places around the globe yet, it is my dream to travel the entire world. One of the places where I want to visit is Japan. I think Japan is beautiful, although I never got to learn much about the country and its history. There are many landmarks that I would want to visit, mainly the Imperial Palace in Tokyo and Osaka Castle in Osaka. I think that Japanese architecture is gorgeous and I want to see and experience the culture one day.