Small Ways To Live Well from The Simple Things

Join The Simple Things’ Editor Lisa Sykes and our regular co-host, contributor to the magazine and author of The Slow Traveller, Jo Tinsley, as they get thinking about how spring is much better time than wintry new year to take stock of you, exploring realisations and understanding about yourself and others. If you think that sounds a bit serious, do not worry, we’ll also be doing a procrastination quiz, learning life lessons from literature and highlighting a few of the great women and their stories we have featured in the magazine for International Women’s Day.
If you are in the UK, you can try an immediate start subscription to the The Simple Things and receive the current issue straight away. Or buy current and back issues here
Thanks to our partner for Season 9, Friends of Glass, an organisation that celebrates and supports glass packaging for food, drink and cosmetics. Find out more about why glass is better for health, taste and the environment and follow them on instagram @friendsofglassuk
Editing & music by Arthur Cosslett 

On the blog
Quiz | Which member of The Famous Five are you?

In previous issues (on sale at picsandink.com)

Kitchen Therapy: Layers of onions (Issue 164)
Life lessons from Russian Literature (issue 64). Read more in The Anna Karenina fix by Viv Groskop 
Lessons from The Famous Five (Issue 123)
Gifts from the Goddesses – Contemporary retellings of greek myths (issue 122)
Life Lessons from Alice – Be curious, eat cake and never steal jam tarts from royalty (Issue 109)
Procrastination Quiz – Find it hard to Get Stuff Done, occasionally? Take our entirely scientific and extremely focused quiz and find out exactly what type of procrastinator you are and how best to overcome it (or simply live alongside it). (Issue 87)
As Good As Your Word – Using more positive language can make a big difference to your life, reawakening your confidence and boosting your happiness (Issue 76)
Wisdom: women doing what they love across the UK’s paths and roads, bridleways and waters (Issue 156)
Wisdom: Learn with Mother – women who have each inherited unique qualities from their mothers, with childhood lessons carried into their adult lives (issue 153)
Flip-thinking - turning problems into opportunities (issue 129)
Future tense: why some anxiety is good for us (issue 123)
 
In our Flourish Volume 4
Mental Notes – Life lessons from around the globe
 
Find out more
Words Can Change Your Brain by Dr Andrew Newberg and Mark Waldman (Penguin) 
50 Sentences That Make Life Easier: A Guide for More Self-Confidence by Kari

Join The Simple Things’ Wellbeing Editor Rebecca Frankand our regular co-host, contributor to the magazine and author of The Slow Traveller, Jo Tinsley, as they talk about how these early days of spring bring about a rise in energy, an urge to sort and maybe spring clean and how to bring new life to old and get out in the garden.
If you are in the UK, you can try an immediate start subscription to the The Simple Things and receive the current issue straight away. Or buy current and back issues here
Thanks to our partner for Season 9, Friends of Glass, an organisation that celebrates and supports glass packaging for food, drink and cosmetics. Find out more about why glass is better for health, taste and the environment and follow them on instagram @friendsofglassuk
 Editing & music by Arthur Cosslett 

On the blog
Koromagae Linen Spray
 
In the March issue (165) on sale now, available to buy here
Spruce up – As the garden springs back to life, now is the time to rejuvenate neglected corners. 
Magical Creatures: An appreciation of the first butterfly of the year
Home Economics: Tropical Fruits. How to ensure the long journey of these drops of sunshine is worth its while.
Gathering: Clothes swap brunch 
Wisdom: The joy of enough. A change in circumstances made Anna Kilpatrick rethink her life. 
 
In the Feb issue (164) available to buy here
My Place: linen cupboards 
Change by numbers: Helping to make the world a better place 
 
In our Flourish Volume 4
Pleasure Garden – Spring seems to arrive sooner when you have fruit trees and blossom
The First Blossom:  a promise of renewal each spring. 
 
Find out more
Plantlife's No Mow May Movement
Not Needing New: A Practical Guide to Finding the Joy of Enough (Orion)

Join The Simple Things’ Wellbeing Editor Rebecca Frank and Contributing Editor Jo Tinsley as they discuss why this is a good time of year to get started with new projects, the brain-boosting benefits of learning a new skill and the science behind creating habits.
If you are in the UK, you can try an immediate start subscription to the The Simple Things and receive the current issue straight away. We can send subscriptions anywhere in the world. Or buy current and back issues here
 Editing & music by Arthur Cosslett. 
Thanks to our supporter for Season 9, Friends of Glass, an organisation that celebrates and supports glass packaging for food, drink and cosmetics. Find out more about why glass is better for health, taste and the environment and follow them on instagram @friendsofglassuk
On the blog
Match your creative itch to a new class here
Projects using glass on instagram @friendsofglassuk
Making a jam jar garden
Ways with rosemary: 
Rosemary and ginger hinny herbal tipple
Olive oil, rosemary and apricot cake
A guide to rosemary pairings 
 
In the February issue (164) on sale now, available to buy here
My Living - we chat to Catherine Mugonyi, founder of community arts space Aunty Social in Blackpool
Tarot for therapy – using the cards to help unlock thoughts, feelings and emotions
Tea & Tarot – an afternoon tea with a wellbeing twist
 
In the March issue (165) available to order here (on sale in shops from 27 March)
More than words – why learning a language is good for our brains and our communities. Find out more at Sign Language Week (16-22 March) 
My City Malaga – a local’s guide to this sunny city in spring
 
In Flourish (Volume 4), available to buy here
Growing habits – if you want to change anything, start small and let it grow 
Heart, body and soul – rosemary recipes and a soothing rosemary and lemon scalp rub

Join The Simple Things’ Editor Lisa Sykes and Wellbeing Editor Rebecca Frank as they find reasons to celebrate during February, including the returning daylight, time spent with friends and loved ones and joyful occasions from Lunar New Year to Shrove Tuesday. 
If you are in the UK, you can try an immediate start subscription to the The Simple Things and receive the current issue straight away. Or buy current and back issues here
Editing & music by Arthur Cosslett. 

On the blog
Seville & blood orange marmalade 
Blood orange posset
Blood orange Negroni
Vietnamese summer rolls recipe
 
In the February issue (164) on sale now available to buy here
Foods of love – what we eat and how we eat it has long associations with romance
Friends for life – the mood-boosting, life-enhancing benefits of friendship
Kitchen therapy – Sensory baking (Herb and black olive fougasse and Cavolo Nero Gnochi) and simple embroidered onions
My City Taipei – cherry blossom and feasting during Lunar New Year
What to do with orange peel – from scented kitchen spray to joyful garlands
 
In the January issue (163) available to buy here
The Big Idea: Could you be an Otrovert? Explore the thinking behind Dr Rami Kaminski’s book The Gift of Not Belonging: How Outsiders Thrive In A World Of Joiners (Scribe)
 
In our A Year of Celebrations Anthology
Lunar New Year gathering – recipes to share and celebrate with friends
 
Find out more
Travelling sun sculpture myhelios.org
 
Thanks to our partner for Season 9, Friends of Glass, an organisation that celebrates and supports glass packaging for food, drink and cosmetics. Find out more about why glass is better for health, taste and the environment and follow them on instagram @friendsofglassuk

In the STAR episode The Simple Things’ Editor Lisa Sykes and author of The Slow Traveller and regular contributor Jo Tinsley celebrate Twelfth Night and look for other reasons to cheer up what feels like the longest month of January.
If you are in the UK, you can try an immediate start subscription to the The Simple Things and receive the current issue straight away. Or buy current and back issues here
Editing & music by Arthur Cosslett. 

On the blog
Candle Holder
How To Wassail Well
How to hold a Wassail
Buttered bourbon apple cider
Tangerine and nutmeg hot chocolate
Blood Orange Posset
Slow Orange Poppy Seed Cake

In the January issue (163) on sale now
The appeal of ice skating
A winter of care and repair
 
In our In our A Year of Celebrations Anthology
Gathering: Twelfth Night with the La Fête des Rois
Candle holders 
 
In previous issues, available to buy at picsandink.com
Life lessons from the north: the value of age-old customs and community in enduring the long, dark winters. (Issue 151)
Looking back why we are fascinated by the stars (issue 152)
Snow lanterns (issue 138)
 
Learn more
Candles: A modern guide to making candles by Ebi Sinter and Emmanuel Sinteh
Watch out for the Quadrantid meteor shower between 28 December-12 January, peeking around 3-4 January 2026
Slow Down And Be Here Now by Laura Brand and Freya Hartas
A Winter Dictionary: A Collection of Words for the Festive Season by Paul Anthony Jones

Thanks to our partner for the Merry Midwinter season, the Marine Stewardship Council, which sets certification standards for sustainable fisheries and awards the blue ecolabel on fish and fish products. Find out more about the best fish to choose at msc.org and follow them on instagram @mscintheuk