lifestyle
A new start after 60: I wanted to retire from farming – but never dreamed I would become an artist | Life and style
It was while touring Mississippi in an old RV that John Ingall and his wife, Jane, first spotted the plant that would change their lives: the hardshell gourd, a plump, squash-like fruit with a thick, woody skin. After that, they saw them almost everywhere they went: carved gourds in porches, hanging gourds, gourds reimagined as…
‘I was trying to explode the idea of beauty’: Coralie Fargeat on The Substance, women and Hollywood | Film
Coralie Fargeat is based in Paris, but is in London for the Oscar nominations – the film she wrote and directed, The Substance, has been nominated for best picture, best director, best original screenplay, best actress (for Demi Moore) and best makeup (the prosthetics are really something). It’s the same story with the Baftas (minus…
Seeking Zen at a silent Buddhist retreat comes with its own challenges | Meditation
As the taxi approached the remote Lake District house where I’d be spending a week doing a silent Buddhist retreat, a thought struck me with Zen-like clarity. You must be out of your tiny mind. The theme of the retreat was “appreciate your life” and it involved spending most of the day in silence: rising…
Readers reply: How do people manage to wear shorts all winter long? | Life and style
How do some people manage to wear shorts all through the winter? Jane Shaw, France Send new questions to nq@theguardian.com. Readers reply I’m guessing it is just in us. Trousers, let alone ski pants, were not really a thing for so much of human existence that we have developed some sort of resistance. I’ve worked…
Quiet, please! The remarkable power of silence – for our bodies and our minds | Health & wellbeing
No dogs barking. No lawnmowers. No revving engines. No sirens or car alarms. No planes. No construction work. No delivery lorries. Just pure, blissful silence. My ears could barely believe what they weren’t hearing when I opened the door, stepped into the garden and listened. It was autumn last year and I had just moved…