Some things that made me smile in… October

Including comfort food, comfort listening, comfort reading and more

If you’re a regular here, welcome back! If you’re new, this is my round up of some of the things that have made me smile over the past month. Please feel free to share in the comments anything that’s brought you joy too, whether big or small! Are you currently a free subscriber but would like to upgrade? You can do that here.

To say the world has been heavy is an understatement.  Amidst the deep pain, suffering and trauma, much compassion is needed.  

We cannot lose touch with our humanity. I hope you have been taking care of yourself and each other at this time. We cannot give our best to those in the world who need us – especially now – from a place of depletion and despair. 

Joy is good for your nervous system.

Part of my taking care of myself has been to deliberately seek out pockets of joy where possible. As I write this, the clocks have changed here in the UK. The month of October has seen notably shorter days and it has definitely been more of a stay-at-home vibe, with the exception of the last weekend when I took a trip to Liverpool – a city I had never visited before (more on that later). 

Here’s some of the things that made me smile this month. Food seems to feature significantly…

Comfort Food  

My podcast habit shows no signs of abating and I don’t mind one bit. This month I really enjoyed this conversation on Comfort Eating between Grace Dent and Nadiya Hussain.  

I’ve been a fan of Nadiya since she appeared on The Great British Bake Off in 2015 and won the series. On winning the Bake Off title, when she gave her emotional speech:

“I’m never ever going to put boundaries on myself again. I’m never going to say I can’t do it. I’m never going to say maybe. I’m never going to say I don’t think I can. I can and I will.” 

I cheered along with the rest of the nation. It’s been fantastic to see her career since continue to flourish. And anyone who can eat 56 samosas in a day (as she proudly revealed recently) has my admiration :)

I really enjoy the way food is a guilt-free zone on Comfort Eating - now in its 5th season - and this episode where Grace and Nadiya discussed rock pools of butter, using snack foods as ingredients and so much more is no different.   

As well as food, they talked about aspects Nadiya’s life from childhood to the present, including her experience of colourism (something I personally relate to).  

While listening I laughed, I empathised and I got a bit hungry. 

Listen to Comfort Eating here. 

(Incidentally, has anyone else been watching this year’s series of Bake Off? For the first time in several years I’ve tuned in and got invested again. If you’re watching too, let me know your favourites.)

Food for thought 

By day, I’ve been enjoying reading scripts for work around teaching yoga. Outside of work, I’ve steered away from narrative fiction and the book I’m reading currently is Maybe I Don’t Belong Here. In his thought-provoking and searingly honest memoir, acclaimed actor David Harewood documents his life from his working class childhood in Birmingham all the way to Hollywood as an adult.  

Along the way, he examines how everyday racism can adversely impact mental health and its role in his own psychosis, which consequently led to him being sectioned under the Mental Health Act as a young man. This was the subject of his BAFTA nominated BBC documentary Psychosis and Me. David made it out the other side. Not everyone does.  

There’s a lot more joy and inspiration in David’s story than the subject matter might suggest. I’ve not quite finished it yet, but I think David’s story is powerful and it’s a book I highly recommend. 

Speaking of books, my current favourite Substack is set in a bookshop. If you haven’t already read Jess Pan’s Sorry I’m Late updates on her It’ll Be Fun, They Said Substack yet, then you’re in for a treat. It’s heart warming and funny. But you don’t have to take my word for it – check it out for yourself here. 

Being a tourist in my home city 

When you’re a Londoner it can be easy to not go and visit tourist sites in your own city. I’d once popped into the café at Kensington Palace to shelter from the rain, but had never visited there properly until this month. 

On a glorious Autumn day I took a trip with friends to Kensington Palace to see the Crown to Couture exhibition. It’s unfortunately finished it’s run now, but if does reappear in the future do catch it if you can. Modern couture outfits as seen on the steps at the Met Gala and countless red carpets were cleverly juxtaposed alongside historical fashion and the venue itself added its own sense of theatre.  

As the weather was so good we went for a walk around The Sunken Garden next door afterwards too. (If you’re ever in the area, the garden is free to visit when open). It was then that I realised all the times I had walked past it when I used to work in town, and not once had I ever paused.  

Once upon a time, the park was somewhere I’d simply cut through as part of my journey somewhere. Not a place to pause and be. I’m so glad that all these years later this has changed.  

Saying Hi to Bella and Bertie by the River Mersey 

On the last weekend of the month I got out of one city and headed to another. Time spent with old friends in Liverpool was truly balm for my soul.  

I ate a burrito I’ll never forget (not quite the size of my face, but not far off) at Duke Street Market and in the evening we had a delicious meal at the original Mowgli restaurant. The service was fantastic and friendly too.  

Mowgli was born out of founder, Nisha Katona’s desire to serve the kind of food Indians eat at home. You can find out more about the story behind Mowgli here, and with restaurants in different cities around the UK, you might want to check the food out for yourself.   

On our walk over to the river the next day I said hello to Bella and Bertie (the two Liver Birds that sit on top of the Liver Building - pictured in one of my photos from the weekend at the top of this post), and we took a lovely leisurely stroll over to the Albert Dock.  

If you have friends that you can go for periods of time where you don’t get to see each other, but when you do it is as though no time has passed, it really is something to cherish. 

It was also wonderful to spend time together without a big itinerary planned. This made time stretch somehow. I think there is a lesson there. 

It may have been my first visit to Liverpool, but I don’t intend for it to be my last. 

Last but not least, this month’s kitchen dance track is an old classic and a favourite of mine, by Nina Simone. Here is the lady herself performing it live in London in 1968: 

 

Over to you: 

An organisation you might wish to support here.

What’s made you smile this month?  

And if you’ve been watching Bake Off too, let me know if you have any predictions for who will win this year.

Let me know in the comments