There’s a phrase we hear a lot these days, especially in talent shows like Britain’s Got Talent or The Voice. Just before someone walks nervously onto stage, there’s that moment when a presenter or judge will say, “Go on, it’s your time to shine.” Cue the music, cue the lights, cue the drama. And if all goes well, a spotlight finds them and a star is born. I find that phrase “your time to shine” a little loaded. As if it’s all up to you to dazzle. As if the light has to come from just inside...

Some years ago, I spent Advent in the Manchester Royal Infirmary as a patient. I’d been in hospital since October, by Advent I was recovering from surgery and waiting for test results. Miles from home, barrier-nursed in a side room, uncertain and anxious of what might lie ahead, it was a strange Advent... not the kind with candlelight services and carols, but one of ward life, the smell of disinfectant, and long nights broken only by the soft sounds of nurses’ footsteps. During those long...

I don’t know about you, but I always find there’s something wonderfully levelling about the weekly ritual of putting out the wheelie bins. Whatever kind of house we live in, whatever car is parked outside, every week the wheelie bins stand side by side on the pavement. And when you’ve been away, perhaps on holiday, how heartening it is to return and find that a neighbour has quietly wheeled yours out and back again. No fuss, no announcement… just a simple act of thoughtfulness, a small...