Issue 51 – The Wellness Issue
‘Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, ‘Wow! What a Ride!’ – Hunter S. Thompson
Not the first choice for many when it comes to extolling the virtues of a balanced, measured life, I’ll admit. But if there’s anything to be gleaned from Thompson’s helter-skelter, hell-for-leather wisdom it is this: Wellness – and with it, good living – is many things to many people, and there’s no one way to achieve it. Which is why we’ve dedicated this issue to exploring the idea of it.
You see, of late, the notion of wellness has gotten so upside down that we’re almost made to feel guilty if we’re not hitting certain tenets of someone else’s abstract idea of living well. In such cases, the very pursuit of wellness is apt to incite a kind of anxiety, creating a topsy-turvy scenario wherein we stress about what we’re doing about our stress. Which is pretty absurd, when you stop and think about it.
Sometimes, wellness is as simple as cutting yourself some slack and getting out of your own head. It’s (quite literally) a walk in the park with loved ones. It’s drinking more water. It’s generally giving less of a shit about things that, ultimately, don’t matter.
So take the yoga class, or don’t. Drink that overpriced avocado and kale smoothie, or don’t. If your idea of switching off and relaxing involves a hot bath and a few candles, that’s cool. If it involves a Chinese takeaway and some heavy metal, that’s also cool. In the wise words of not Hunter S. Thompson: You do you.
Will HALBERT
Editor
