What my lockdown calls to an old man taught me about laughter, life – and myself

When a busy young woman befriended an old man living on his own, a compelling relationship was born

When the first lockdown began and Boris Johnson finally pointed his finger down our throats and warned us in a tweet that we must stay at home as we work together to fight this virus and keep everyone safe", he also spoke in a speech of the fortitude of the elderly". Suddenly, the rising stats of loneliness began to be bandied about on every news feed. One in four adults said they had experienced feelings of loneliness in the previous two weeks, according to a Mental Health Foundation survey, from last April. The number of people who felt always or often" lonely reached 8%, the highest it's ever been on record.

Before the word bubble" was revamped to mean people you could have actual physical contact with", I lived what I now refer to as the fast life": always moving, constantly adrenalised, permanently stimulated. My alarm would scream down my ear at 6.30am. I'd squeeze my way into a spin class at 7am, then eat a bowl of Tupperwared oats on the train as I made my way to a cafe to start work for the day. I'd spend money I didn't have on overpriced coffees and average lunches, and then I'd rush to audition for an acting part, making small talk with my doppelgangers in the waiting room.