Small is beautiful
When the February issue of Red hit newsstands last year, my heart sank. We’d written it a few months earlier, before the third lockdown had been announced and when life felt full of possibilities. The coverline ‘Make plans, have adventures’ couldn’t have been more out of kilter with what we were about to endure.
What the following months did make me realise was that changes don’t have to be seismic to be meaningful. Although our ‘big plans’ for the year ahead might have been scuppered, we still sought out ways to enhance our lives – even if that was going for longer walks, cooking more creatively and finally embarking on the pile of books beside our beds. It proved that new intentions, no matter how small, are beautiful. But actually, maybe the smaller ones are even better. It’s well-documented that tiny tweaks to your lifestyle are far easier to maintain, and the incremental benefits of ‘little and often’ can be significant. Also, while we might not have the time, cash flow or temerity for extravagant transformations, we can still feel revitalised by smaller updates – and, most importantly, these are less likely to be scuppered by the tumultuous circumstances we’re still living under.
So, this issue is a celebration of the many tiny ways we can improve our lives today, whether that’s the easy ideas to update our homes on page 96 (from painting your ceiling a different colour to replacing cupboard handles); the accessories that will refresh everything else in your wardrobe on page 10; the 60-second habits to improve your health on page 142; or the nine simple but clever ways to boost your finances on page 54.
Sometimes it’s about going back to basics – I found our beauty story, Small Tweaks, Big Difference, on page 82 amazingly informative (I now know the proper way to use concealer and how to cleanse like a pro); other times, it’s about making life easier – like The Big Short on page 150, which suggests you can get the same wellness benefits from exercising less (amen to that). I particularly love If You Do Just One Thing… on page 26, which shares advice from experts on every area of your life, from career to relationships to self-confidence to the environment.
If last year taught us not to take anything for granted, it also reminded us that joy can be found in smaller places, too. I hope this issue inspires you to see all the great things you have around you already and also gives you the impetus to make them a tiny bit better.
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