In the depths of the last financial crisis I had an insight into what can really support us. I was at a dance venue, and the happiness and community the dancers displayed was in stark contrast to the carnage that was being mourned by the media. "Crises need not concern us" I thought "because all we need access to is a dancefloor, music and some partners. And I can't imagine the crisis that would deny us that!" Clearly, I didn't have enough creativity to conjure up what is

The body can pose many puzzles for us, but one of the most intractable ones for me is "what to do with the shoulders?" The hip joints are so easy by comparison: either the upper ends of your legs are snugly in their ball-and-socket joints (no problem) or they are not (problem). But our shoulder joints have evolved radically differently. In order to allow both our arms to hang from us and us to hang from our arms, the shoulders offer a compromise of flexibility and stability