As I Age...

In the 11 months or so of Lockdown, my beard has become greyer, I have lost something in the region of 20lbs, and I feel I've aged somewhere between 5 and 10 years.

Ageing has never felt gradual – it's always felt like I would be steady for a bit, then suddenly leap a few years forward.

Unfortunately it feels like a while since I was last steady for a bit.

Last night I had a dream where trimming my beard went drastically wrong, and I realised I was going to have to shave the whole thing off.

But in that dream I looked more like I did 20 years ago.

I took this photo this morning, and it seems to encapsulate something of how I perceive myself today – considerably older than my dream projection.

However, one thing I can be certain of – in 5 years time I'll look back at this and think how young I look...