Epiphanies are like magic. They can lift you up to places you never dreamed you could go. And they can change not just you but the world around you too. From depressed to hopeful, oppressed to free, victim to star.

We all have them. Nobody ever has not had one, maybe unnoticed, maybe dramatic in its impact, but there nonetheless. It may have been prompted by something that was said that turned a bad situation around or a different way of looking at something that had seemed heavy and unbearable. The epilogue bears witness to how they work. Something like the leprosy example in India or the transformation of the medical system in Alaska can change not only the way we frame things at the  personal level but the way we see things and do things in society as a whole.

Someone has called it ‘structured imagination’. Others have said simply ‘Aha’ - now I understand!

Whatever we call the epiphanies we all have them, whether they come like a punch in the face or get tucked away somewhere in our subconscious. They are beautiful things and deserve to come out and be enjoyed because they have the power and the excitement when they are shared to build a new world.

And that’s what we have to do, build a new world. The present one is sick with self-interest, conflict and the greed of growth. You may feel you have nothing to contribute because ‘I’m only a tradesman’ or ‘I just drive trucks’ but remember you do also thrill to the song thrush, tend an allotment, teach Sunday school, help at a foodbank. You will find that you are rich in experiences that have had far-reaching consequences for you and for untold others.

Tell us about them. Send them in. As little stories in any form you like. They will become meat for you and maybe drink for others in Ashok’s next journey.