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WRITING|CREATIVE WRITING
Coffee, Reflections, and Music
On life’s “what ifs”
Many years ago, I was doing the washing up at home when I saw a teenage girl crossing the road opposite our house. She did not look either way before venturing forth. Two seconds after she reached the other side a car sped around the same corner she had just left behind.
My first thought on being witness to such distressing scene was one of anger. Anger at the driver and his (it was a man) carelessness. After all, our road had a 20mph limit. I also felt anger at the girl and her lack of awareness. How many times do we tell our children to stop, look and listen before they cross the road? My second — and much calmer — reaction was one of reflection.
We would normally think of fortune, good luck, when being confronted with a situation like the one I described before. But this near-miss also made me ponder over the nature of humans. Most of us live pretty well-organised lives, dictated by a certain rhythm and pattern like an orchestra rehearsing for a big concert in which we are both musicians and conductor.
Yet, when we forget to look either side before crossing the road, are we not defying the perfection we are (un) consciously trying to create? Are we not entering the realm of “If…”?
