Magic in the mundane

The world has shifted on its axis, but we must still indulge in life’s pockets of pleasures. Joy is not frivolous; it’s necessary to staying sane and sanguine during turbulent times — and you don’t have to look far to find it.

-  CHARLIE HALE

Shortly after the end of the Second World War, the English playwright, novelist and commentator JB Priestley put together a collection of essays in praise of life’s simple pleasures. Titled Delight, the book was an effort to boost national morale during a time of intense austerity.

Priestley’s reflections on solitary G&Ts, cancelling plans to stay home and frying sausages outdoors became a bestseller, and 60 years on, in 2009, a new take on the book was released: Modern Delight. Like its predecessor, the 21st-century version is a collection of the things, people, places and feelings that delight the book’s many authors.

Modern Delight is a little hardback with a big sentiment, one that suggests that true happiness is found in celebrating the everyday and the habitual; that there is no big secret to happiness, no perplexing formula that only a select few are in on. It really is the little things that make the difference between a good day and the sort that leaves you feeling disconnected, fed up or just a bit blue.

This, no doubt, is what the meditation lovers among us have been preaching all along: seeing, not merely looking at the beauty that surrounds us. If you’ve found yourself exasperated at the seemingly impossible task of clearing your mind, the philosophy of finding joy in the everyday might be exactly what you’re looking for.

Priestley’s uplifting message is particularly pertinent right now as we remain in the throes of a global pandemic, worrying for the health of our loved ones and the murkiness of a future full of unknowns that people keep referring to, chillingly, as “the new normal”.