OUR NEW WAYS to find joy

With many of life’s usual pleasures off limits, four well-known women reveal how they’ve found contentment in nature, friendships, family and at home Lockdown has been a time of highs and lows.

Overnight, my husband, Tom, and I became teachers to our sons, Rudy, 11, and Spike, seven; and that’s been challenging! But we now have a daily ritual where Rudy comes up with an inspirational quote and leaves it on a Post-it Note somewhere around the house. The last one said: ‘Life isn’t a straight line, it’s the shape you make it.’ If that’s not inspiring, I don’t know what is.

We’re having rave parties in the kitchen with the kids; nothing beats them.

We each take it in turns to pick songs, everything from Tina Turner’s Proud Mary (my favourite) to Physical by Dua Lipa (the kids’ favourite), and the four of us dance around the place like total lunatics! Amid the chaos of trying to get work and homework done, it brings us all together.

Date night is now watching boxsets in bed.

During that time, it feels as though everything could be normal in the world. It’s also the one chance Tom and I get to switch off. The tricky part is trying to get the kids to bed at a decent time so that one of us doesn’t fall asleep during the first episode. We’re watching the crime drama Ozark on Netflix, which is the most brilliantly written, incredibly acted series.

I’ve been through quite a lot of trauma in my life.

My family has been riddled with cancer, and the biggest lesson I’ve learned is how important it is to ask for help.

Right now, my mates are a real lifeline. We have video calls that last for about two hours (it’s constant chatting and making sure everybody’s okay) and every Wednesday night, we have a virtual pub quiz. Everyone has to come up with their own round. The other night, we had one where the answers were all sweets, chocolate bars or biscuits.

Recording my podcast, Soundtracking, helps keep me sane.

It is a reminder of who I am and what I do. It was born out of sheer frustration of not being given a regular slot on the radio. I knew I could deliver the guests (film directors, actors and producers) and I could interview them. So I decided I was going to do it myself. I had no idea if anyone would even listen, but I am now on nearly 200 episodes! It shows that if you are really passionate about something, you can make it happen.

One of the unexpected joys of lockdown is that it’s also helped me rediscover an old passion.

Rudy wants to be a wildlife photographer and he’s been getting up early to listen to the birdsong and take pictures of nests. It made me think, ‘Why don’t I get my camera out again?’ I used to love photography, but as life got busier, it went on hold. I’m starting small by taking portraits of the boys, but I’d love to take it further one day. Watch this space!

 Edith’s podcast Soundtracking is available on all podcast providers

‘Nothing beats a kitchen rave with the kids’ Radio DJ and TV presenter Edith Bowman shares how music is bringing her family together.

Right now, my mates are a real lifeline

‘I love the freedom of whizzing along on rollerblades’

Uncertain times can bring small, significant joys

Broadcaster and journalist Trisha Goddard has discovered a new appreciation for the little things in life.

Recently, on the way home from my daily run, I saw a rainbow.

The weather prior to that had been vile, with strong winds and rain, and yet there it was, vibrant and gorgeous. I noticed people were smiling at each other from afar; perfect strangers uniting. The conversations and the rainbow were both rare and beautiful sights.

It was a reminder to me that uncertain times can bring small, significant joys; just as when a rainbow appears, we know that the storm has passed.

For many years, I was a workaholic.

I lived my life at 200 miles an hour, only stopping when a breakdown in 1994 served as the first sign that my hectic media lifestyle was not only unsustainable, but a danger to my mental wellbeing. At times, we all tend to feel like we must constantly be doing something productive or worthwhile.

I’ve learned the importance of living in the now; taking life day by day.

Breast cancer forced me to stop throwing all my energy everywhere but at myself. I build small moments of self-care into my day now: a run, a cup of fresh mint tea before bed and relishing reading a book without feeling guilty because I should be doing something else.

When I was 42, I learned how to rollerblade.

After taking part in Dancing On Ice, my interest naturally swerved more towards ice skating. However, when my local ice rink shut due to coronavirus, I decided it was time to dust off my rollerblades. For my first try, my boyfriend and I went to the empty car park of a restaurant near my house. As soon as I popped on the rollerblades, I remembered why I loved it so much. The freedom of whizzing along was invigorating, and great fun! And with all the roads so empty recently, it’s been the perfect form of exercise.

I think a lot of people have worried about ‘doing nothing’ at home.

My boyfriend, a businessman, has certainly struggled. However, I believe there is no such thing as boredom. My parents saw it as a positive thing, which meant

I grew up finding ways to amuse myself; something I passed on to my own daughters, Billie and Madi.

From boredom comes creativity, and the outlook that the smallest of things can bring the greatest of joys.

Currently for me, that’s frequent Facetime chats with my girls, something none of us had time for before, and actually enjoying my trips to the supermarket, picking out fresh produce to be creative in the kitchen. Whether enforced or chosen, pressing the pause button on daily life gives us all an opportunity to smell the roses, working out what is truly important to us.

‘Gardening focuses my mind’

BBC Radio 3 presenter Katie Derham swears by the meditative power of plants, and is happy to celebrate her 50th birthday with a Zoom party.

Outdoors is where I really find my calm.

Getting outside and having time on my own, pottering and walking in the garden, has become hugely important to me. I’ve found that weeding out the flowerbed or watering or planting something is almost meditative in its benefit to me. You wake up in the morning and your heart falls when you hear the news. I look out my window and think, ‘Okay, today I’m going to plant another row of carrots.’

My personal standards are slipping, I’m not going to lie.

I have dirty fingernails all through the day and at night, I think, ‘Shall I give them a second scrub? Can I really be bothered? No.’ They’re just going to get dirty again tomorrow. Nobody’s going to see!

There’s a gang of us here at our house, which is lovely;

my husband, John, daughter, Eleanor, and my sister and nephew. It’s a hive of activity. My other daughter, Natasha, is in New York, as she’s a student at NYU, and we Facetime every day. We all have to look for the silver linings, don’t we? It’s a special time to be able to hang out with extended family. We’re all benefiting from the garden and there’s a trampoline, so we can all go out and have a bounce.

I turn 50 in June and I’d planned a party.

I’m not going to burst into tears if I don’t have a big do, but I’m sure we’ll do something. It might be a massive Zoom call, which would be quite fun. At some point, there will be a big bash, which I’ll really look forward to.

My husband runs the Leon restaurant chain, and they’ve been helping feed the NHS

and getting food boxes out to the vulnerable. It’s been fantastic to be part of that, and it helps keep us motivated and positive. It’s amazing to see a national fundraising campaign for thousands of meals a week for front-line health staff.

 Katie presents BBC Radio 3 In Tune, weekdays 5pm to 7pm, including Home Sessions, part of BBC Culture In Quarantine

‘I’m much more a glass-half-full person’

I love taking photos on my daily walk

Broadcaster Angela Rippon has coped well with the challenges of self-isolating and loves getting virtual hugs from her friends.

‘Joy’ is a word that’s almost onomatopoeic.

You say ‘joy’ and immediately you feel joyful about things. That’s the power of the word. It’s only three letters, so it’s tiny, but my gosh, it has a huge effect on our emotions in all sorts of ways, and they seem to be concentrated in these situations. Every Sunday morning, one of the great joys for me before lockdown was to be on the telephone catching up with friends. Now, I’m doing it all the time. I seem to be permanently on the telephone or on Whatsapp sending silly bits and pieces!

I’ve put up lots of bird feeders around my small terrace,

and it’s wonderful to see the birds coming and feeding; blackbirds, tits and goldcrests. There’s a robin that comes and feeds regularly from one of the feeders right outside my window. One day, I put some food in my hand and this little thing came down and began eating.

When I go on my daily walk, I always bring my camera to take photos of the things I see.

I go every morning. I think it’s so important now to appreciate what we have. Joy comes from seeing things that make you feel good.

As I’m over 70, I’m in one of the groups considered high-risk.

I’m still working, but one of the positive things to come out of this whole crazy situation is that I’m having to learn how to do all sorts of things technically that I’ve never had to do before. I’m doing live broadcasts with high-tech equipment at home. I am much more a glass-half-full person than glass-half-empty, and I get a real joy out of living.

You can’t underestimate the power of a hug.

A friend emailed me a video of four little children who were standing up and hugging one another. The joy on their faces was so moving. At this time, when we can’t have physical contact, I think a hug is a wonderful thing. It’s such a tactile, lovely thing to do and all part of the human condition of being able to have physical contact with people. I sent the video on to another friend, and she sent me a reply immediately, saying, ‘Thanks Ange. That’s wonderful. Until we can do the real thing, I’m going to send you a virtual hug.’

 Angela is a presenter of BBC One’s

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