The Simple Things

Taking time to live well
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Taking Time to Live Well

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mental health shelf.jpg

Create | a mental health shelf

Iona Bower November 12, 2020

Why a small corner dedicated to your happiness is a vital part of any home

The art of curating is comforting and grounding. Gathering things together that go with each other or work with each other is calming and comforting, and it’s lovely to just remember a few of your favourite things, whether they’re raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, or a few treasured books and CDs.

For a mental health shelf, you gather together your favourite things that bring you comfort and joy, so that on a down day or in a blue moment, you have a little stash of things to lift you. They might be books you return to again and again, comfort DVDs best enjoyed with a roaring fire and a cup of tea, a picture that makes your heart sing, yarn and needles or colouring pencils and a notebook to lift you out of the doldrums, or simply a favourite old threadbare teddy. 

It doesn’t even need to be a shelf; a bag or box will do just as well. Heck, you can even create a mental health shelf in your mind, where size and reality are no barrier; who said you can’t have dragons and elephants on an imaginary mental health shelf if they make you happy?

You might already have something like this at home. If not, we hope we’ve inspired you to make one. The above is a picture of our editor at large, Iona’s mental health shelf. It includesbooks - Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons, Alan Bennett’s letters and the complete Mapp and Lucia novels; some childhood favourite DVDs (Moondial and The Box of Delights) to transport one back to Sunday afternoons with tea and crumpets and BBC1; some illustrated jazz musicians, a candle that smells of the sea (to complement the shells from the East Sussex coast) a copy of her favourite comfort-read magazine (of course) and a snail (because we all need a surprising snail now and then). 

But we’d love to see yours, too. Take a photo and send it to us at thesimplethings@icebergpress.co.uk with a short note about what you keep on your shelf and why. We hope to share them in a future issue. 


From our November issue…

Featured
Fire Jonathan Cherry.JPG
Nov 5, 2020
Fun | Games to play around a fire
Nov 5, 2020
Nov 5, 2020
Cattern Cakes Kirstie Young.jpg
Nov 3, 2020
Recipe | Cattern Cakes
Nov 3, 2020
Nov 3, 2020
Seed packets Emma harris.jpg
Nov 1, 2020
Make | Personalised Seed Packets
Nov 1, 2020
Nov 1, 2020

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InWellbeing Tagswellbeing, mental health, comfort
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  Buy ,  download  or  subscribe   See the sample of our latest issue  here   Buy a copy of our latest anthology:  A Year of Celebrations   Buy a copy of  Flourish 2 , our wellbeing bookazine  Listen to  our podcast  - Small Ways to Live Well
Feb 27, 2025
Feb 27, 2025

Buy, download or subscribe

See the sample of our latest issue here

Buy a copy of our latest anthology: A Year of Celebrations

Buy a copy of Flourish 2, our wellbeing bookazine

Listen to our podcast - Small Ways to Live Well

Feb 27, 2025
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The Simple Things is published by Iceberg Press

The Simple Things

Taking time to live well

We celebrate slowing down, enjoying what you have, making the most of where you live, enjoying the company of of friends and family, and feeding them well. We like to grow some of our own vegetables, visit local markets, rummage for vintage finds, and decorate our home with the plunder. We love being outdoors and enjoy the satisfaction that comes with a job well done.

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