Delicious UK - (05)May 2020

relievedwhentheywereover.Her

normallifepleasedhersowellthat

shewashalfafraidtostepoutofits

frameincaseonedaysheshould

findherselfunabletogetback.”

Butwewillgetback,youknow.

Ourliveswillrightthemselves,

althoughtheymaybemuch

changed.Whiletodayourprevious

existencesofdeadlinesand

impossibleschedules,family

responsibilitiesandwork

commitments,shoppingtripsand

long-haulholidays,barbecuesin

thegardenandpicnicsatthebeach

seemlikea foreigncountry,it is one

we will most certainly visit again.

BUSYDOINGNOTHING

Rememberwheninthemiddleof

allthatbusyspin,youlongedfor

sometimeforyourself?Andnow,

forlotsofus,wehavemoretime

thanweeverthoughtweneeded.

Ourdiariesareempty.Wemaybe

pacingthefloorswithfrustration,

but right now, for many of us, doing

nothing,stayingput,is anactof

solidaritywiththosewhohaveno

choicebuttogotowork,whether

they’redoctors,nurses,porters,

cleaners,deliverydrivers,shelf

stackersorthemanyotherswho

haveworkedsoselflessly,beyond

exhaustion,totrytopullusback

fromthebrink,tomakeliving

throughthispandemicbearable

formany,andpossibleforsome.

It shouldbeeasytodonothing,

butformanyofusthisis the

hardestthingofall.Weworkon

average 42 hoursa weekinBritain,

abouttwohourslongerthanin

anyotherEuropeancountry.The

traditionalreplyto,“Howareyou?”

hasbecomenolonger,“Well,thank

you,”but“Sooooobusy!”,followed

byeyerollsandmutualshrugsof

recognition.Wehavebecomefully

paid-upmembersofthecultofToo

MuchtoDo;byourfulldiaries and

eyebagsshallyeknowus.

Butnowweareforcedtopause.

Our once racing-about lives are

slowed.Wefitinworkbetween

WhatsAppchatswithpalsabout

wheretoscorehairdyeandwho’s

goingtoweakenandcuttheirown

fringefirst;wehavedinners‘with’

ourparentsviaZoom,andspend

timeonlocalFacebookgroups

catchingupwitholdfriendsand

makingnewones,especiallyones

whoknowwherewecanfindflour.

Complaintsaboutbinsandparking

havebeenreplacedbyofferstopick

upprescriptionsand walk dogs or

collectgroceries.

I hopewhenwegetbackto

normal,whateverournewnormal

is,wecanmakemorespacefor

doingnothing,andwe’llhavea

newappreciationofitsimportance.

Howradicalwouldit be,how

veryupliftingandgenuinely

improving,if weallowedintoeach

daysomedeliciousidleness?The

Italians,ofcourse,havea great

phraseforit:dolcefarniente, the

sweetnessofdoingnothing.The

Frenchcallitl’artderienfaire. It

feelssignificantthatwedon’thave

a similarphraseinEnglish.‘Being

lazy’,withitsjudgyconnotations

ofuncombedhairanddressing

gownsintheafternoon,doesn’t

cut it. Where’s the l’art in that?

...ANDRELAX

Myfirstboss,VirginiaHiller,taught

mea wordI stilluseonhighrotation

today– thatwordis slummocking.

Youmightsaypottering.Neither

ofthemhavetheeleganceofthe

ItalianorFrench,butthatshouldn’t

preventusfromgettingstarted.

It’simportantthatour

slummockingshouldn’tbetoo

drearilyorobviouslyimproving,

especiallynow.Theessenceis

pleasure.Sitonthegrass(or

thebench,if youhavemyknees);

watchthemovementofthetrees;

eaticecreamforbreakfast;draw

something(itdoesn’thavetobe

good,nooneis gradingyou);read

a new author; grow something from

HOWTOBEA

daydreambeliever

MorethanhalfthegoodideasI’veeverhad

havebeenwhileI’vebeeninthebath,

engulfedina ripplinghazeofMoroccan

roseoil.Mostoftheresthavearrivedin

myheadunbidden,whenI’vebeen

potteringaboutinmygarden,kneading

bread,gazingoutofthewindowofthe

73 bus,walkingmydogsorwatchingthe

birdsinthecherrytreeoutsidemystudy

windowwiththetinypairofbinoculars

I keeponmydeskforexactlythatpurpose.

Thesegentlemoments– whenmyeyes

soften,myshouldersretreatfromtheir

full-attentionpositionsomewherearoundmyears,andI breathegently

intotheday– areoftenthemostinspiringandproductiveofall.Sometimes

allit takesis steppingawayfromthelaptopandthenaggingToDolist

toresetyourequilibrium.Somemightcallit lazy.I call it embracing

dolce far niente just as hard and as often as I can.

RETRO PHOTOGRAPHS: ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES

34 deliciousmagazine.co.uk