It is 12 months since stopping live music! I find that sentence hard to write in one sense, but conscious that I have achieved such a lot in that 12 months. For many it has been an exceedingly difficult time and will continue to be so. I have been supported throughout in so many ways and for that I am grateful. I have lost earnings like so many others, but I have not been excluded from receiving support. We have all lost in some way or other, but I refuse to be negative. My positive outlook has certainly been a source of strength over the weeks and months.

I have been saddened by what we have seen in the media this week, but I will not give up on humanity!

The late Jo Cox, MP ‘was driven by her belief that a fairer, kinder and more tolerant world was possible. She believed passionately that even the greatest challenges could be overcome’. Do I believe this? Yes, I do!

We will never know the truth surrounding individual circumstances and events, yet we are driven by curiosity and of course opinion. We do not know what motivates actions or decisions, even though we would like to; or think we know what lies behind them. I am not immune to all the hype and the ‘news’ and I will frequently be angry about an individual situation and I will have an opinion. But it is my opinion, and I can only comment on those feelings and not upon something of which I have no knowledge. My opening quote is from May Sarton, a prolific writer of poetry, novels, and journals. Her critics have found her writings to be inspirational, touching, honest and thought-provoking.

This week has caused us all to think and reflect! But this week, like many of my weeks this year I will be with my choral communities, and yet again it will be online. But we will be together and enjoying each other’s company in a shared and much-loved activity.

All I see as I look upon my screen of ‘celebrity squares’ are happy, engaged, thoughtful and kind people who are there to support each other! Thank you!