How have you been affected by the pandemic? Are you an introvert who has enjoyed the solitude? Are you an extrovert who has really struggled with the restrictions? Have there been other things that have affected you? Or have things not really changed much?

A number of different challenges arose during lockdown for me, and at times I found myself struggling.

My instinct when things get tough is to retreat into my shell and hide from the world. That has been easy to do during lockdown, to the point where people who might otherwise have noticed, didn’t. We’ve all been fighting our own battles, as well as not seeing one another as often as we otherwise might in order to pick up on these things.

In June, I’ll be walking 13 miles in aid of the Alzheimer’s Society, so I’ve been doing some training walks in recent weeks. My latest walk was along the towpath of the Grand Union Canal. It was very peaceful, and a very pleasant way to walk 10+ miles.

As I walked, I watched the ripples of raindrops, and the wind making little waves on the surface of the canal. It made me think that life is a bit like a stream of water.

The other day I had a dream. In my dream I was driving a white car which broke down. I don’t know what was wrong with it but I managed to limp it to a car park and parked it in a vacant space. I didn’t bother to get a ticket – I’m not sure why. Maybe I didn’t have any money on me; maybe I thought that as the car had broken down there was no point; or maybe I just didn’t think about it as I was preoccupied with the car having broken down. Then I went to get help.

Let me take you on a little trip.

You receive an invitation to a huge banquet. The invitation is beautifully decorated and very personal to you. It’s just for you. It makes you feel special and loved, even though you’re not even sure who it’s from.

You check the date in your diary and accept the invitation.

‘Don’t you trust me?’
I stopped and thought. How do I respond to that?