Showing results by narrator "Catherine Gray" in All Categories

Ever sworn off alcohol for January and found yourself drinking by the 7th? Think there's 'no point' in just one drink? Welcome! There are millions of us. This inspirational, aspirational and highly relatable narrative champions the benefits of sobriety with a three-pronged approach combining the author's personal experience, factual reportage and contributions from expert sources and self-help advice for anyone who wants to reduce their alcohol intake or eliminate it completely.

Over a third of us are now single. With the single camp growing at 10 times the rate of the actual population, it is now the norm to be single well into our 30s - the average marriage age for women is 35 and 37 for men. But nobody seems to have told society, rom-com makers, songwriters, marriage-hungry mothers, 'tick-tock' uncles, our mates or us that. Cue: single anxiety. Love addiction. Spending hours scrolling through dating apps. Being inconsolable when he/she doesn't text. Humming 'Here Comes the Bride' when they do.  

The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary theorises that the solution is rediscovering the joy in the ordinary that we so often now forget to feel. Because we now expect the pleasure of a croissant, a hot shower, a yoga class, someone delivering our shopping to our door, we no longer feel its buzz. The joy of it whips through us like a bullet train, without pause. Catherine Gray was a grandmaster in the art of eye-rolling the ordinary and skilled in everlasting reaching. Until the black dog of depression forced her to rethink everything.

Gray has written for many major publications, such as The Guardian, The Telegraph, Grazia, BBC Earth and Marie Claire. During her 20s, Gray worked for Glamour and Cosmopolitan. As you might have read in her debut book, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober, Gray battled addiction to alcohol during her 20s and early 30s but managed to keep holding down her job. We spoke to Catherine Gray about what counts as ‘fun gratitude’, what the significance is of the Hedonic Treadmill and why ordinary things are so great.