Amazing, the things you can talk about with strangers, but wouldn't dare tell the people you know. A cathartic and frightening experience, as you summarise your life in a few sentences, barely pausing to blunt edges or brighten colours- the only choice you make is which details to leave out. It feels almost like an interview, a test you need to pass before you're allowed to move on to the next level.

Sometimes the conversation flows, as if you've met an old friend; other times it is broken by long, uncomfortable pauses and expressions of disguised disappointment. As you speak, you begin to see yourself as a stranger, too, filtering every word through invisible distorting glasses, projecting your conscience on the person sitting next to you, wondering "do I sound interesting, or like a psychotic self-absorbed sociopath?"

A face that stands out in the crowd. Exchanged glances. Curiosity turns to hope turns to excitement turns to fear. Then your insistence is rewarded with a smile, maybe even a hint of a chance. You start to notice the tiny footprints of coincidence wherever you go. Fear turns to excitement turns to hope turns to curiosity. A new beginning. Or another case of self-delusion. Don't we all live for these moments of effortless inspiration and agonizing doubt?