Magazines: A Love Story

As a child, I had a lot of big dreams for “when I would grow up.” There were the trips I would take, the friends I would have, the parties I would throw, the man I would marry. And the magazines I would buy. Freely, without having to ask my mom or worry about whether or not I was old enough for Cosmo. 

I wish I was kidding but I’m not. Magazines held a special kind of magical place in my heart from the very tender age when I first caught sight of their lovely glossy fronts in my moms hands, littering her dressing table, cluttering up our coffee table- there, but just out of reach. I had an almost obsessive interest in uncovering what lay behind those glossy, perfect, colorful covers. I wanted to read all the articles. I was fascinated by anything that they covered. Literally. Anything. 

I would have, and still will, happily devour an article about something that literally has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with my life, so long as it made it to the cover of a big name publication. I am not the most discriminate consumer, not gonna lie. 

Is this a problem? Probably not, seeing as I went on to graduate in journalism and briefly worked at one of the major magazine houses in Dubai (yes its not as glamorous as it is in the movies, and yes I was both shocked and disappointed). 

But lately, I feel like I’m the only one left who still dishes out far, far too much money for the glossy covers lining the neglected supermarket shelves. I am almost invariably the only person standing in the magazine aisle. I am literally the only person I know who has a stack by their bedside (and their coffee table, and their shelves, and in their carry on). 

With a dearth of articles and notices from magazines folding, or moving online, left, right and center, I feel like the future I looked forward to all those years, is slowly slipping away from me. 

No! I spent far too long waiting to indiscriminately be able to read every sordid article in every women’s magazine, even if polyamory really has nothing to do with my lifestyle and I haven’t been ghosted, nor am likely to be (husbands don’t usually ghost but I am sure they’ll be a term for when they blank you whilst playing Fortnite soon enough). 

I will not be robbed of my right to pay for what I could get quicker and more easily online. I will support the magazine industry single-handedly through my indiscriminate purchases, I’m looking at you Good Housekeeping, if I am not already. 

But no. Seriously. The magazine bashing and the doom and gloom has to stop. Because people have got it wrong! Magazines are lovely. Magazines are an institution. Magazines were the vehicle that brought us and educated us on the things we write about online today, like women’s empowerment and  makeup reviews. Magazines were the original blogger. The first girlfriend you could make without leaving your house. 

Magazines brought mystery and glamour, and they taught us to wait. They also made the weekly grocery shop a lot more exciting I’m sure, because literally, they are often the sole reason you’ll find me in a Waitrose. 

Yes I know I can go online and find the best foundation for my skin type being touted to me on one million videos and articles. Yes, I can find more relatable women on their, admittedly very snazzy, blogs and vlog channels. But the good old fashioned magazine connects me to something more visceral. A bygone time. A, dare I say it and yes you can cringe, a tribe.

 Other women in other places who are reading the same magazines and admiring the same full page spreads of whoever is this month’s cover girl. A world without magazines will be a more environmentally and affordable world yes, but it’ll also be a little poorer in other ways. And that makes me very sad. 

So naturally, I go out and buy more magazines to feed my habit and do my bit. 

I could write a love letter to many a magazine out there (hey maybe I do need to read up on polyamory), but today I’m keeping it to a new find that I am particularly in love with. A new breed of magazine fo me, if you will. Firstly because I truly have fallen for this publication, but foremost because I think it highlights that the medium that is the magazine, still has a LOT to offer us, and shouldn’t be discredited the way it, often, can be nowadays. 

The publication I’m talking about is of course, In the Moment. 

I stumbled across In the Moment for the first time in the strangest of places, in the terminal at the international airport in Amman, Jordan, after my husband and I missed a flight by a mere five minutes. It was the first time in my entire life that I had ever missed a flight and I was more than a little stressed out by it, seeing as there were very few flights leaving to Dubai that night, and we spent quite a few hours in the terminal waiting. What a perfect time to stumble upon a publication that is all about ‘mindful ways to live your life well’. Seems like fate to me! 

I immediately fell for the beautiful illustrated cover, and having no idea that the magazine was in fact a monthly, I picked it up incase I didn’t stumble across it again (I did in fact pick up another issues just a few weeks later in the U.K., by which point I was very excited to discover that In the Moment is actually a monthly!).

Can I just point out how absolutely perfect a magazine dedicated to ‘mindful ways to live your life well’ is for the current time we live in? I love me a good Cosmo or Marie Claire, but I can’t deny that In the Moment was a wonderful, very much needed, breath of fresh air. 

The tone of the magazine is welcoming, wholesome, and warm, just as you would expect. You can find a little bit of everything in here, or everything that uplifts and leads to a better, more well rounded, and peaceful life that is. The August issue included a comprehensive look into the hormone maelstrom that is the monthly cycle, personal columns on everything from procrastination to refreshing our creativity, a look into the art of collaging with super cute cut outs to get you started, an exploration on going back to school as an adult, and tons of clean and Skandi living inspiration. In a nutshell everything I was looking for from a magazine! And all on lovely, thick, card like paper. 

With sections dedicated to Wellbeing, Creating, Living and Escaping, In the Moment is just the companion you need to indulge in a little healthy me time. 

In the Moment is a far cry, and a healthy far cry, from your usual monthly, and I really look forward to picking up future copies, or more likely, going old fashioned, and subscribing, so I make sure I don’t miss an issue all the way here in the wilds of Iraq, where its definitely not available. 

And I mean just look at it. In the Moment is the perfect coffee table magazine, and I can totally get behind that. Another childhood dream if you will: a coffee table full of timeless magazine covers. 

Who would have guessed?