There are a set of traffic lights on my way to work - where a slip road joins the main carriageway.
Perhaps it was the angles involved or the lie of the land or simply a lack of imagination - or all of the above - whatever the reason it was a struggle to picture my own car from the other side of the lights - and yet I take this road to work and back every day.
Why did I bother? Was it just part of my never ending neurosis? Perhaps so but it was nonetheless an interesting exercise.
If I cannot see myself from the other side of a set of traffic lights on a familiar journey, what hope do I have of seeing another's perspective on life? His green lights and his journey and his car? His thoughts as he sits waiting for the lights to change so that he can get home to his family after a long day's work and recharge his soul with their love.
We are nearing the end of another arbitrary unit of endless time seen from the puny perspective of our species. Another year of technological marvel comes to a close but the ever shrinking world seems to be filling up with more hate than love - driven by nebulous interpretations of geography, history, religion and politics.
As I slow down to admire the Christmas lights on my drive home I wonder whether it would help if we all take a moment at the next traffic light - to think about how we look from the other side, hunched up in front of our steering wheel in a wrinkled shirt and a travel worn car. It may come as a surprise to see the unexpected look of anger on our faces - and it may take a moment or two before we realise it is only the red light spilling on to our windscreens - open to false interpretation, causing unintended offence and yet purely circumstantial.
Season's Greetings one and all and a sincere wish that all of us find and keep love in the New Year.
