Every piece of clothing I buy is matched by a parting: one in, one out. It focuses the mind
Clothes well made by fairly paid people out of good quality fabric are not cheap, nor should they be
Jewellery might not always leave us with a clear conscience but it’s fun, and pleasure is not trivial
Sparkle is not a necessity for survival but aesthetic delight is part of what makes us human
People trying to sell diets enrage me on good days. On bad days I feel inadequate
We keep coming back for more, hoping for rules that will allow us to feel okay about inhabiting ordinary bodies in a culture committed to anxiety and hierarchy
Women are safer on the streets and men are safer at home, despite the stories we tell ourselves
Fear is determined by storytelling more than by data, and women have been taught to fear being outside for centuries
Here’s why you should never set ‘reading goals’ in an effort of grim self-improvement
The idea that reading is innately virtuous, other than religious material, is modern
I navigate new places without the internet because I believe in getting lost
I am convinced that way-finding without a phone schools us to pay attention in a way that we lose when we merge with a blue dot on a screen
There’s a clear difference between those who grew up taking photos of themselves and those of us who didn’t
Unlike the generation which has grown up with mobile phone cameras, when I am photographed I look awkward, wooden, smiling like someone who just wants this to stop now
If we really wanted to be good and healthy in 2025, we’d resolve to pester our politicians
Childhood rickets is back in Britain – and it’s not because ill-health is the logical outcome of poor choices
Christmas - and the perfect family life it represents - is an oppressive fantasy
Most families have someone missing even if the table is holly-decked and groaning
Assisted dying: Do we understand it properly?
I’ve seen the slow loss of dignity and the increase of pain that mark the last years of lives drawn out by healthcare in modern society
We should stop moving so fast. Resist where you can. Hold space to grow and digest
We should stop moving so fast. Resist where you can. Hold space to grow and digest
How did ‘granny’ become the byword for dimness? That’s so wrong
Some of the grandmothers I know are a surgeon, a judge and professors, while many others belong to the English literary canon
Eating disorders in later life: Some of my peers have had teenage weight levels for decades
In fact, a locally-made, organic doughnut might well be better than green beans grown with scarce water in Namibia and air-freighted in plastic wrap
I’m a Brexit-era ‘citizen of nowhere’, trying to settle in Ireland
If I have a family tradition, it’s moving, being an outsider, starting again
I was taught to avoid the ‘trap’ of cooking but I take pleasure in domestic life
I long for ways of thinking and writing and cooking that admit in the most serious and simple way, food is love