TURNING 60

Over a lifetime we connect with many people. Some touch our lives in significant ways even though they are around only weeks or days or...

Sifting through the headlines last week, my attention is attracted by “Scorching heatwave to bake Britain”. I click through. Temperatures...

There was a hierarchy in my class at school with one girl, Leona, at the top. If you weren’t in with her, you weren’t in. The desired...

I’ve been refused entry to bars for many reasons in my drinking life. Too young, too old, too drunk, wrong sex, wrong shoes, not smart...

We meet on the corner of Mattock Lane. Charmion in jeans and a yellow jumper. She’s worn nothing but gym gear for over 3 months. I’ve...

Years ago, I used to run around Hyde Park every Monday. The same route each week. Different experience every time. The light, the...

“Stay home!” said the government. And I stayed home (except for my run and essential shopping). Until I decided not to. Then I took my...

A few days ago I was talking with my friend George. George had got so cross with his neighbour that he’d nearly decked him. That’s not...

It’s November 2018 and I’m at London Bridge Station on my way to a counselling session in Buxted. As I head for platform 10, the status...

Some people have mixed feelings about starting a new decade and misgivings about leaving the old one. I've always felt rather excited by...

It's the question on many lips right now! And no one really knows the answer. How do we come to terms with that? And how do we live our live

Unbelievably (to me, at least) this is me. Aged 11. I can see nothing of myself in this photograph. Except the teeth, perhaps. But I...

As of Wednesday, I've been on sabbatical. It wasn't in the plan. But is anything these days? My main client has closed down all the...

Last week I had my first conversation with a human being for 5 weeks that was not socially distanced. I can't tell you how good it felt....

When I was 9 years old I caught a bug. Sue had been ill a few days before. Her place at the school dinner table was next to mine. "Don't...

A month today I start the biggest running challenge of my life. It's not what I thought it would be. I won't have a bunch of friends with...

I have a friend who could lose his business at the end of this month. I know someone whose father and sister are on ventilators in...

I'm running along the street. There's a woman walking towards me. All bundled up. Arms crossed over her chest in a defensive position. I...

"Sit up straight or you'll get round shouldered," said dad repeatedly throughout my teens. Another one of those boring things parents...

Rituals, goals, plans and to-do lists have their uses. But they can be restrictive. And we often use them a way of deluding ourselves...