I occasionally work with public writing groups and think this book would be great as way for them to prompt their thinking and relax them into writing their own similar explorations where they can engage with themselves. Some of the prompts were great for loosening my mind a little, and think they’d be great exercises in getting people to just put words on paper. If we want to thrive, the act of accessing joy right here, right now, is one of the first muscles to strengthen."

Yrsa Daley-Ward's 'The How' is a collection of 'notes on the great work of meeting yourself', and it, unfortunately, reads as such. A bunch of notes. I received this book from Penguin Random House and Penguin Books in exchange for an honest review, so I thought I’d preface that!

Donna Hay recipes

Stuart Andrew, Conservative MP for Pudsey, minister for sport, gambling and civil society, and minister for equalities, 52; Harriet Crabtree, director, Inter Faith Network for the UK, 65; Dominic Cummings, political strategist, chief adviser to Boris Johnson (2019-20), 52; Dr Rhys Davies, chairman, Llangollen Musical Eisteddfod (2015-22), 68; Blythe Duff, actress, Taggart (1990-2010), 61; Michael Feast, actor, Velvet Goldmine (1998), 77; The Rt Rev Clive Gregory, area bishop of Wolverhampton (2007-April 2023), 62; Carole Hersee, costume designer, featured in the BBC’s Test Card F (1967-98), 65; Brent Hoberman, entrepreneur, co-founder of Lastminute.com (1998) and Made.com (2010), 55; Yvonne Kenny, opera singer, 73; Terry Kilburn, actor, Goodbye, Mr Chips (1939), 97; Eilish McColgan, middle and long-distance runner, gold medallist, Commonwealth Games 10,000m (2022), 33; Alessandro Michele, fashion designer, creative director at Gucci (2015-22), 51; Steve Morgan, founder (1974) and chairman (2009-19), Redrow, and chairman, Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (2007-15), 71; Lord (Paul) Murphy of Torfaen, Labour MP (1987-2015), secretary of state for Northern Ireland (2002-05) and Wales (1999-2002, 2008-09), 75; Lord Naseby (Michael Morris), Conservative MP (1974-97), chairman of Ways and Means and deputy speaker (1992-97), 87; Donald Sassoon, emeritus professor of comparative European history at Queen Mary University of London, The Anxious Triumph: A Global History of Capitalism (1860-1914) (2019), 77; Rachel Saxby, Conservative MP for North Devon, 53; Dougray Scott, actor, Mission: Impossible II (2000), Snatch (2017), 58; Gerald Seymour, thriller writer, Harry’s Game (1975), The Glory Boys (1976), In at the Kill (2023), 82; Ben Stein, economist, actor and speechwriter for US presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, 79; John Taylor, inventor who developed thermostats for use in electric kettles, 87; Bruno Tonioli, choreographer, judge, Strictly Come Dancing (2004-20), 68; Sir Peter Wright, director laureate, Birmingham Royal Ballet, 97. The How is a self-help book of sorts. It is Yrsa Daley-Ward's inner thoughts and feelings about life and how we can make the most of it, and stay true to ourselves. She says herself, that this book is, in a way, telling people what they already know. And I agree, there was nothing spectacularly new and revolutionary in this book. But I don't think that that took away from the beauty of it. Sometimes we simply need reminders about life and the ups and downs of it and this book provided that. A heartfelt, artful manifesto focused on living fully and authentically… By turns simplistic, elegaic, and illuminative.” – Kirkus Gopnik, A. (2017). The Gardener and the Carpenter: What the New Science of Child Development Tells us about the Relationship Between Parents and Children. Vintage.

To be clear, when I speak of joy, I do not mean the intangible state that we call happiness. When I speak of joy, I speak of something altogether more nuanced and real to me; something I can taste and feel and name. I speak of the experience and dynamism of being alive in the world. This model is essentially an analysis of the process by which people move from being novices to experts. Willingham’s book explains in detail how experts have more information stored in their long-term memories, enabling them to ‘chunk’ their knowledge and therefore use their working memory capacity efficiently and creatively. Much of the research is in areas such as chess. Expert and novice chess players are fundamentally different. Expert chess players think in a different way, they even fail in a different way to novices – and it’s all, according to Willingham, down to the vast knowledge they have stored in their long-term memory.Expert led, enforced instruction is not the only way to learn, and the evidence that shows that it is the most effective method has clearly defined parameters. If your aim is for all children to learn a specific body of knowledge and retain it, and you are confident that you can motivate children to do so, then direct instruction from an expert with lots of repetition (otherwise known as drilling) may well be effective. If your aim is children who can think critically and creatively, and who are developing their potential as active and diverse human beings, then there is no evidence that drilling them will achieve this. It’s simply not part of the way in which the studies were designed. There is, however, good reason to be sceptical about claims of the utter necessity of all those hours in classrooms, because there is research which shows that children who do not attend school at all learn effectively to the point where they are able to access higher education (Riley, 2020; Fisher, 2021). The general theme of the book is the idea of looking within to find your truth rather than looking outside of yourself and becoming what others tell you to be. Topics and ideas covered include enjoying the journey rather than focusing on the outcome, finding your own joy, prioritising time for the important things, belonging, coping with depression, and finding stillness so you can hear your soul’s message. She also writes about death and dealing with grief in an incredibly deep and sensitive way and I would recommend reading this if you are going through grief yourself.

There is a calm knowing in your being, a gentle understanding sitting in the core of each of us. It is a deeply experienced part of you, one that knows your desire. This is why each fresh discovery still bears a whiff of the familiar. As though, somehow, you have already been here. As though, somehow, you are remembering. Although I’m an omnivore, I like to cook plant-based food when it makes sense. A plant-rich diet is widely accepted as one of the most healthy, and can also be more economical, especially when you practice root-to-fruit eating by using up every last morsel. In this recipe, for instance, flaxseeds and aquafaba take the place of eggs and milk, and are much cheaper. This rather humble pie is food at its most thrifty and nutritious, a filling and economical weekday meal that is also comforting, especially as the cold nights draw in. The collection feels like a hodgepodge of thoughts without a clear thread to say 'this is poetry' or 'this is self-help'. I suppose this is what they call genre-bending, but in all honesty, it gave me a bit of a headache.x 400g tins cooked white beans, such as cannellini or butter beans, drained – keep the aquafaba for glazing the pie (500g net weight) Williamson is referring to a school of thought which has gained traction in the USA and UK in recent years, that of education based on ‘cognitive science’. Advocates such as Daniel Willingham ( Why Don’t Students Like School?), Daisy Christodoulou ( Seven Myths about Education) and Katharine Birbalsingh ( Battle Hymn of the Tiger Teachers) argue that the research is in and progressive educational techniques don’t work. By progressive techniques they mean a wide range of methods, including the idea that schools should teach transferable skills (Christodoulou), that teachers should make an effort to make their lessons engaging and interesting to children (Birbalsingh), or that children should be encouraged to think critically and solve problems from early on (Willingham). I filled out an online quiz from one of these companies and got an ADHD score of 43 out of 63 – whatever that meant. If I wanted to find out, I needed to open the “personal management plan” that had arrived in my inbox and would apparently give me unique insights into my challenges and help me to better manage my symptoms. But I would need to pay 26p a day. I chose not to sign up, but over the following weeks I received a further 15 messages, each trying to lure me into purchasing the plan with growing discounts – 60% off at first, then 75%.