EDITOR’S LETTER
A few weeks ago, I went to Paris. It was springtime, but it was cold. And yet I had the good fortune that my little jewellery box of a hotel room in the St Germain district had a balcony. Did I say it was cold? I actually mean it was bitter. But I wasn’t going to let a little frostbite deter me. So, on my only morning in the city, I ordered café au lait and a croissant to my room, wrapped myself in two bathrobes and sat outside to appreciate the crisp Parisian air. It was brief, but it was glorious. A few hours later, I relayed all this to my friend, who laughed. ‘Of course you had your breakfast on that balcony! You always squeeze the joy out of every occasion.’
I’m a great believer in bringing, as Alain de Botton says, ‘all one’s faculties of appreciation and love to bear on that most modest and easily dismissed of increments: the day already in hand’. It’s the reason I love Rosie Green’s piece on page 36. Her ‘little hits of happiness’ come in the form of fresh hair, nostalgic laughter and the comforting weight of a child (or dog) in your lap. Ditto. On page 38, Arielle Tchiprout asks whether you can rediscover daily joy in a job that’s lost its lustre, and, on page 42, Emma Forrest argues why lowering your expectations is the true secret to eternal contentment.
You’ll find more joy in the glorious Giffords Circus recipes on page 124, the candy stripes on page 151, the beachy fashion on page 88 and especially in Anna Bonet’s foray into laughter yoga on page 160. It’s not always so easy to come by, though, yet as our piece on the freedom you can find in forgiveness on page 162 proves, search in the darkest places and you’ll still find chinks of light. Heidi Klum agrees with the sentiment of the issue, too (page 28). When I interviewed her for this month’s cover, she told me, ‘I want to experience and love and live more in that very day and make that beautiful, instead of wishing it away.’
I hope you find some beauty in your day, too.