Libyan body art. With thanks for pic. to Farida Haggiagi

Flower-powered, maybe. But that Beatle left in his wake a trail of a dream. He lived and sang for peace, although his end came violently. Not all his (fundamentalist?) ideas can be enacted in the real world, but their essential meaning lingers on like a settled smile.

2015 can start the healing process for the years which have led up to it if only the world finds the courage to address the mistakes of the past. Lennon is too simplistic when he suggests a complete new start, of course. History has left a rich legacy of lessons upon which we can continue to build, so luckily we don’t need to learn everything again from scratch. Tried and tested mechanisms deserve to be trusted, not eradicated alongside the failures.

It takes more than dreams, however sublime, to enable the radical vision. 

And he probably would not be dismayed, after all, to hear us all wish the new year “GodSpeed”. We need all the help we can get. Imaginary or not.