The new world is devoid of humour. People are being axed left, right and centre. Replacing real people with self-driving buses, fully automated supermarket checkouts and airline phone lines is like a lottery win. And now artificial intelligence? Soon, machines will be able to do everything, even generate deceptively authentic articles. Does this mean the end of all certainty? The end of all jobs?

What is the right way to live? Everyone wants to be a King – balanced, calm and relaxed. But is that possible? The world is full of mice that gnaw at roots and toads that block the water to fountains. Our society is based on performance, so anyone that doesn’t work has no value. On top of that, there’s the irritating temptation of the world of commodities. But you don’t have to own everything in order to be considered successful or happy. If a fairy godmother were to appear and offer to grant three wishes, very few people would be able to decide which ones. Then there’s the constant angst-inducing news reports: coronavirus, war, climate change. Life is not easy. How much energy is expended just to find the best energy provider alone?

Perfection is fleeting, so we need to see the beauty in the imperfect – that’s how the Japanese live with their philosophy of wabi-sabi, according to which all things are charming, even those with flaws. But it hasn’t been possible to carry this idea over to people, because in the land of the rising sun, it’s still business as usual: pressure, perfectionism, success …