I was brought up and educated in a working-class family in the Northwest of England. I worked hard. I enjoyed time alone with my thoughts. I didn't step in to uncomfortable moments to share my opinions or to open up conversations which might require my input. I was a timid, a more observing middle child who lived in my head and felt the outside world was looking at me through judging eyes. I pulled the shutters down and sealed up. My myopic lens was my comfortable space.