Lately, I have been learning a lot about psychiatry. It has led to seeing the world through a peculiar lens.

I now find myself doing mental state examinations on strangers in the street; assessing elderly peoples’ gait for Parkinsonian symptoms; on the lookout for bright, flashy clothing that could indicate mania or histrionic personality disorder; doing psychodynamic therapy – on myself. Most of this unconsciously.

It sometimes works out. I watched Fight Club for the first time last week, and guessed within ten minutes that it was a case of dissociative identity disorder (spoilers, sorry). But other times, it’s not very productive.

I was catching up with a friend recently and realised I wasn’t paying attention to what he was saying. He had made a comment about his childhood earlier and I was distracted wondering how it might have affected his current predicament. When I snapped out of it, he had stopped talking and was gazing at the sunset. It was beautiful. I nearly missed both things: the sight, and what he had been saying.

We all see the world through a certain filter – this is unavoidable. But when the filter blinds us from the world itself, it is a time to pause and reflect.