The Rurbanist: Q&A with Patsy Palmer
By
4 years ago
Patsy Palmer on life in Malibu and why meditation is always the answer…
What’s the best way to put a smile on your face?
Just looking at any of my kids when they’re in a really good mood.
What’s annoying you right now?
Coronavirus. It’s frustrating for everybody. And it’s so sad for people and their businesses, and everyone getting sick, too – the way it’s affecting the world is terrible.
Whose mind do you wish you could change?
My own. It’s the whole reason I came up with the mission for Good & Proper (Patsy Palmer’s new haircare and wellness line) – to try and keep our thoughts positive. Our own mind is the most important one to change, because by doing so we realise we can’t always change other people’s.
Every product in the Good & Proper range comes with a guided meditation
Advice you’d give to your 15-year-old self?
Everything will be okay, and you don’t have to worry. You really don’t need to be with this boy, or that man. It’s not necessary to stay in these terrible relationships – you’re going to wish you never did! What keeps you awake at night? Last night it was the fire that my oldest son lit because it was chilly, but you can’t do that here in Malibu when it’s windy – there have been too many terrible forest fires – so I was up all night worrying about it.
What could you have been arrested for?
Taking some toys from Hamleys without paying when I was a kid. It wasn’t intentional, it just happened… but then it was the typical hand on the shoulder from the security guard saying, ‘Come with me’.
Best life hack?
Meditation. It’s changed my life in the last five years. It doesn’t cost anything and telling people how much it has helped me is really important. If you try just five minutes a day of a guided meditation, it really does change everything. It does something to your brain chemicals, it reduces stress levels and inflammation in your body.
Where do you go to get away?
I sit in the garden or go to the beach. I don’t need much escape because Malibu is such a beautiful place and so full of nature. I just have to go outside and look at the ocean. I am very grateful and aware of how lucky I am.
Beautiful Malibu on the Californian coast/Getty Images.
You wouldn’t know it but…
I’m obsessed with vinegar and have to have it on everything I eat.
The book you wished you’d written?
I love The Road Less Travelled by M. Scott Peck, which was one of the books that helped open my mind to different ways of thinking. Or Harry Potter!
The Road Less Travelled by M. Scott Peck
The film you wished you’d starred in?
Films like This Is 40 make me laugh so much – anything by Judd Apatow. I love a good rom-com.
Your greatest failure?
I went through something, a financial thing, and I felt it was a failure. But the biggest failure was my inability to change my mind about it sooner and get out of it earlier. It affected me hugely. But I learnt lots about myself from it, which I can put into what I’m doing now.
Your greatest triumph?
When I look back and see what I’ve overcome in life. The resilience that women – especially – have is incredible. We have to do a certain amount of fighting.
Your epitaph would read…
She tried her best and her intentions were always good.
Find out more at Patsy Palmer’s hair & wellness line; goodandproperhair.com
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