This morning I walked past a shop selling the kind of clothes that I like. A sign in the window was advertising a 50 per cent off sale. I was tempted. In fact, if the window display had featured something that caught my eye, I may have gone straight in. But the fact that it didn’t meant I paused, and thought better of it. I don’t need any new clothes. In fact, my husband has … [Read more...] about The dangers of believing you’re a consumer
values
Would a million-pound handbag make you feel rich?
Super-luxe French retailer Hermes has just unveiled its latest creation: a miniature diamond-studded Birkin handbag with a price tag of £1.2million. I have no problem with objects of beauty. But there is a point at which conspicuous consumption reaches a level of obscenity. The super-rich, who will snap up these mini totes, live on a different planet to the rest of us. A planet on which … [Read more...] about Would a million-pound handbag make you feel rich?
Things I know about internet dating
Internet dating has been in the news this week. The Guardian asks, “Is it destroying love?”; Time Magazine wonders: “Does it make it harder to find The One?” I can speak with some authority on the subject because I met my husband through a dating website. Our story was deemed remarkable enough for a leading newspaper and monthly magazine to print articles about how we met - … [Read more...] about Things I know about internet dating
Is the pen mightier than the diet?
All you need to do to lose weight is spend 15 minutes writing about the values that are most important to you. This is according to a new study published in the magazine Psychological Science, in which researchers recruited 45 female undergraduates who had a body mass index of 23 or higher (58 per cent of the women were classified as overweight or obese). Each woman was weighed, then given a … [Read more...] about Is the pen mightier than the diet?