Bull's Eye

So much of life comes down to luck. If you are a professional from a working class family, the chances are you are earning £6,500 less than your middle class peer; bad luck. The parents you did not choose; the country you are alloted to; the teachers who formed you - or failed you; your health; your faculties; the friends who sustained you; the opportunities you encountered; the way the dice rolled and the cookie crumbled - all largely chance

We all like to believe that, at least to some extent, our results, our successes (or lack of them), the status we have achieved, reflect our conscious choices, our efforts and our merits. Those who did not do so well did not deserve it, we think. Those who ended up homeless or penniless or beaten, well they must have made some reprehensible choices

I'm not so sure. Mostly, I don't feel smart, I feel lucky. When I see people having a hard time, I usually reckon it could just as easily have been me. And I think we would be best to build a society that takes this view: one that recognises that bad luck happens, and it's no-one's fault, and bad luck does not devalue people or make them less significant citizens

What I'm saying is, this was a lucky shot. Until I got it home and looked at it, I did not realise what I had captured, and I certainly did not plan for it. In case you haven't worked it out, it's a sea anemone, retracted against the exposure of a low tide. The circle at around seven o'clock is the reflection of a spectacular rock arch on the beach. The ET figure in the centre is, I think, me! The light centre is the reflection of a spectacular sky. A collection of coincidences

Lucky me