Town Meets Gown: New columnist Dr Julia Johnson on the pursuit of sparkle

As senior lecturer at Cambridge School of Art, Dr Julia Johnson is part of the city’s academic community; having long-since adopted Cambridge as her hometown, she’s also a local. In her first column for Velvet, Julia sets off in the pursuit of sparkle. . .

I’m normally a ‘glass half full’ kind of a person. I’m thankful it’s March, that the brutal January and February months are over – that daylight is stretching out its limbs for just a little bit longer each afternoon. The excess of undergraduate student marking has subsided, and things are starting to feel a little lighter. But recently I’ve found myself over-indulging in the kind of self-talk that only results in unrealistic expectations: I am in pursuit of what the Italians call ‘La Bella Vita’ after the recent wintery months.

What does that mean for this academic who obsessively works, attends to her precocious puppy, and snatches moments with her husband, sisters, her young niece and nephew? Well for me, it’s a bit of ‘sparkle’ – a sophisticated lunch (with sisters – sans niece/nephew, a pair of beautifully tailored trousers, or just listening to some soul-enriching classical music whilst whipping up something delicious in the kitchen.

However, rather than settling for the occasional meal out with my husband, my need for sparkle is becoming a little bit more. . . insistent. Perhaps it was binge-watching Rivals at Christmas. Perhaps I’m spending too much time on Instagram. But when I’m like this (and it’s rare), I find reality crashes in, providing some much-needed perspective.

This sparkle-reality juxtaposition occurred on a recent trip to Delhi with my husband in December. Attending a glittering four-day wedding with our Indian family, we were treated to the very best food, music, entertainment, and company that Delhi had to offer. But it was on our penultimate day of this seminal trip, en-route from the Taj Mahal of all breathtaking places, that my belly rumbled and my experience on that stretch of motorway was, let’s say, humbling. My husband’s sparkle was also stolen, as he fell prey to the illness. Returning through Heathrow and on the underground, among the festive shoppers and family outings, my husband and I resembled a more gothic, Tim Burton version of Christmas. I somehow lost a quarter of a stone in three days. Luckily, my appetite was back in time for Christmas and my mother’s delicious lunch – the sparkle had returned with aplomb.

The most recent example of the sparkle-reality juxtaposition - like any pushy academic, I’m coining the phrase - involved a parasite I cannot abide: the horrifyingly grotesque (at least under a microscope) head louse. Now, being a woman without children, I thought I had escaped this parasitic demon, but as I said earlier, I am an aunty, so not totally immune from the carriers of this wretched creature. It turns out that a 30-second trip to my sister’s car, dutifully carrying my niece whose shoes had got wet that morning, resulted in an infestation. On inspection, my sister confirmed that my niece’s head lice were ‘four times the size of thunderbugs’.

Secretly, I have always worried about catching the bastards. I spent the next week dousing myself in Full Marks solution – using that tiny comb repeatably and twitching and shuddering at the thought. I noted at least one friend and two colleagues whose head my own had come into close proximity with – oh, the actual shame in potentially giving a senior academic a dose of head lice, and the internal debate about whether an email warning them was appropriate, or just a bit neurotic. The sparkle was certainly lost that week.

This might all sound rather funny – but there is a serious life lesson to reflect on here. Having since read The Power of Now (Eckhart Tolle), I recognise the importance of being mindful, present and grateful for the precious moments – and the difficult ones. The Delhi motorway experience wasn’t pretty – but I have thought time and again how wonderfully supportive my husband was that day.

I’ll be writing a column every other month for Velvet, offering some of my, rather honest, observations on life and the wonderful experience of living and working in Cambridge. I’ll include some of my favourite products, places and events along the bottom of the page, which I hope might be of interest to readers.

Returning to the sparkle just one last time: a friend of mine always says having a couple of things in the diary is a great idea when life feels a little dreary, and I have two things to look forward to. Firstly, a student trip to see The Women’s Art Collection at Murray Edwards College, which is always an enriching experience. Secondly, my husband is taking me to one of my all-time happy places – a restaurant which is certainly full of sparkle. From inside The Ivy window, the view of Trinity Street just seems to sparkle more brightly in the low evening light.

Follow Julia: @juliacjohnsonphoto

Julia’s Picks

It might be spring and I may want sparkle, but my inner goth is sticking with this wicked shade: 161 - Le Diable En Chanel by Chanel (£24.65 at John Lewis & Partners, Grand Arcade)

A latte at The Mill in Cambridge always comes with a yummy biscuit (The Mill Mediterranean Coffee Spot, Mill Road, Cambridge)

The sun shines all year round with this neat Lumie Mini light therapy lamp (£59.99, lumie.com)