From the editor...

What does summer mean to you? It’s something we have been asking ourselves here at Kintsugi Magazine. For me, summer is my favourite season, a time filled with pure joy and light, with beauty and possibility.

As I note in my column (page 12) I have recently been inspired by some incredible books which have reminded me reminded me of the importance of creating a life filled with love, gratitude and joy. It is a theme that has come up over and over again this issue, how to slow down and find the joy all around us. In her feature, The Summer Expansion (page 16), Emma Johnson writes about the way in which summer heightens our awareness of our senses and how we physically experience the world – the sun and the breeze on our skin, the smell of flowers, the sound of bees, the warm grass under our feet, the taste of strawberries picked from the field – this heightened awareness providing the perfect time to pause and check in with yourself. To listen to your intuition and feel the abundance around us.

For some, summer can unlock a sense of wild abandon, a zest for life that pushes us to try new things. In this issue we speak to three writers who recall pushing themselves during the summer season, trying everything from wild swimming to firewalking (page 28).

To me summer also means colour – beautiful vibrant shades that pop up from the ocean to the fields, our world at its most resplendent. In this issue, we explore the way we experience the world through colour (page 36) while our own Kintsugi Psychologist Dr Asma Naheed explains the deeper psychological effects that colour has on our brains and the surprisingly strong influence they hold, advising us to select the colours of our lives just as an artist would (page 90). We also meet Linda Mattolini, Italy’s most in-demand image consultant to ask how wearing colour can affect the way we feel and the way we are perceived (page 42)

While we are often sold joy as big moments – the weddings and celebrations and so on – it’s the daily pleasures that really keep us going says writer Anna Bartter. In her feature on page 24 she makes a compelling case for the power of micro joys; meanwhile Emma Johnson asks how we can recapture that feeling of wonder we had as children (page 48). And speaking of micro joys, our columnist Najla Mae explores the uplifting power of jewellery on page 94.

Finally, we look at how being busy is no longer the badge of honour it once was (page 74). With ‘hustle culture’ leaving more and more of us feeling overwhelmed and overworked, we ask if now is the time to pause, step back and do less, thus giving us more time to do things with meaning, to have experiences and connections that really matter. I can’t think of a better time than summer to start. Enjoy the issue.