The state of the world currently resembles what my Grandma Edie would call a hegdish (essentially a giant mess). There is much to do. We must resist, we must protest, we must march. But also, for the sake of our souls, we must find our “happy place” — everything that can mitigate the despair.
Find joy in simple pleasures, appreciate them and keep eating, er, I mean doing them. Yes, times may be so bleak that we all brace ourselves every time a news alert pops up but we must remember how to stay positive -ish. Struggling to think of a “happy place”?
Here are a few of mine from the past month or so that may/may not be useful for inspiration:
1. Grandma Shirley’s peanut butter sandwiches. She may be famed for the likes of her cheesecake and her kuchen but these little rays of gastronomic delight are so simple that even the most domestically challenged (like me) can recreate them at home. One part pillowy white bread, one part butter, one part peanut butter (yes, the spread is as thick as the bread… so, yes, it should perhaps come with a health warning). The crucial twist? Cut into small, crustless triangles to achieve maximum joy.
2. Team sports. I cannot believe I’ve just written those words considering the way I conformed to my stereotype at school (ie putting a lot of creative energy into skiving PE) but, these days, my Monday-night netball matches are the source of immense pleasure. With a disproportionate number of Mancunian Jewish girls on the team, what we lack in skill, we make up for in gobbiness. A workout for both body and mind.
3. The question “would you like to take a strudel for your freezer?” from your mum as you leave her house (and we’re talking a homemade meat strudel. Insert all the celebratory emojis here)
4. Friday-night dinners. Living in a different city from the majority of our family means we can’t always spend Shabbat with them but a Friday night with friends who make you laugh until your sides hurt can make you feel so much better about the world. Even on the day a moronic, impetuous hairpiece becomes Leader of the Free World. Add red wine. Lots of it.
5. A Grandma Edie joke. Nothing makes me laugh quite like 90-year-old wit. Not got a Grandma Edie? Google Old Jews Telling Jokes as an alternative.
6. TV. I have written at length about comfort telly in the form of American sitcom Gilmore Girls and I stand by that but recently I’ve discovered Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, a show that manages to combine feminist satire with the musical genre and unapologetically featuring a modern Jewish lead character the way American programmes can. For a more British form of televisual escapism you only need to tune into any of Channel 4’s property programmes aka middle-class porn. There is nothing like an inventive use of a side return to cheer you up on a cold Tuesday eve.
7. A good couch. Ideally with your favourite person sat to your right.
8. The absurdly delightful bits of the news. See uberstar Beyonce and the way she announced her pregnancy with twins last week —breaking the internet with pictures of herself in her underwear framed by what we in the Habonim trade would call “a bit of a kishut” (a colourful backdrop, nonsensical head dress) And for next level thrills, google “cookie the news beyonce pregnancy” to find a short video of someone icing this image onto a biscuit accompanied by soothing spa-esque music. Don’t ask my why. Just enjoy.
See? Not everything is doom and gloom. So don’t despair. Eat, drink, laugh… and thank Hashem for Beyonce.
Abigail Radnor is acting features editor for Guardian Weekend
