Supercuts

I hope all will be forgiven when it comes to the not-so-brief hiatus I’ve taken from penning the pieces that every now and then pop into my mind.

I’d love to be able to justify it with some elaborate, impressive reason, but alas all I have to say is that I’ve been ‘busy’.

The important thing is, it doesn’t mean the bliss writing brings me has diminished, only the time I have to devote to it.

Which is why returning to it today feels like more of a privilege than ever, akin to the feeling of walking into a cosy room, or taking a hot shower.

Importantly too, I wouldn’t have been able to write the passages below if society and life hadn’t returned to some semblance of normality. Being ‘busy’ might not be conducive to creativity in the sense of actually being able to craft my tiny contributions to the world, but it is in terms of triggering ideas.

Finally, I’ve once again been able to pursue the pastime of people watching.

It sounds a bit sickening, a little Love Actually, but on my recent travels I’ve noticed how joyful it makes me to simply and quietly watch others living their lives being equally happy, thoughtful and caring.

Going back and forth to London again has made the feeling more abundant.

Some would say it’s because there’s a greater variety of life in the big smoke, which is undoubtedly true.

But I suspect there’s something more strategic in it; that the only explanation for the Tube and train WiFi being so shockingly bad is so that they’re able to subtly encourage us to see the stories playing out around us as opposed to those on Instagram.

As I once again departed Waterloo, two guys on a platform bench caught my attention through the carriage window. Uniforms donned, totally unfazed by the world around them, only their faces betrayed the delight they’d discovered in each other’s jovial company.

Conversation. Grins. Laughter.

For a fleeting few moments, they were absolutely carefree.

Just as I was, smiling as I saw the jocular scene slipping away around the corner.

It reminded me of an earlier instant I’d enjoyed on the same journey.

Standing on the Tube, I happened across a young girl and her father sharing headphones.

In her full orange football kit, programme in hand, it didn’t take me too long to realise they’d just been to the England vs. Croatia match.

The pure adoration reserved on her face for her father revealed that she’d loved every minute, just as much as his ebullience evidenced the elation he felt at having been able to treat her to something special.

I couldn’t help but think I might be witnessing the making of a great talent.

At the very least, I’d been in the presence of total and utter contentment.

Seeing such snapshots, I considered the comparable scenes suffusing my own life; ones I hope will help others to occasionally remember, in the immortal words of Hugh Grant, that “love actually is all around”.

And you don’t have to be ‘lucky’ to find it.