Is it wrong to seek some release from miserable reality? I can't help but try | Emma John

Our anxiety levels remain high, a poll reveals, as war follows pandemic. Don't be shy of occasional joyHave you been enjoying the sunshine? Perhaps that's a redundant question: it has been difficult to avoid the delicious grins on people's faces, the exaggerated generosity in their manners, the readiness to smile at strangers. Even the traditionally uptight denizens of London have been seen to unfurrow their brows and actually catch each other's eye. Something feels different. Something feels - and forgive me if I'm speaking out of place here - not completely awful.Nature's good at that, of course. Give the lady her due, she always turns it around at the end of winter. In this part of the northern hemisphere we spend a good third of a year convinced that the world is cold, dark and possibly going to hell in a handcart, then out pop the daffodils and it's like someone's thrown us a surprise party but remembered only to invite our more cheerful, better behaved alter egos. Continue reading...