Year in, year out

THE GOOD LIFE

- GREG DIXON

Happy New Year from us at Lush Places, though I can’t help worrying that it won’t be. It’s fair to say that recent new years have let themselves down on the happiness front. Although I’m writing this before 2023 arrives, it might be safer if it gave up on the ropey promise of happiness and punted instead for a more achievable New Year’s resolution, such as being a little less grim than much of 2022.

I’m sure the new, new year will give it a go; the desire for self-improvement is strong after the festive season. Christmas, a feast day that fattens us up, empties our bank accounts and occasions family fallings-out over disappointing lunches, inevitably leads, like a drunken night out, to guilty morning-after vows to lose weight, live within our means, mend broken fences and other such appealing chimeras.

I blame Christmas, but actually the business of recognising one’s shortcomings and making pledges to be a better person in the new year far outdates Christianity.