Soul Talk

Fluctuating Chessboard

"Daniel, would you please stop pacing? I'm trying to make some Blueberry Scones."

"Ugh, I'm just..."

"What is it?"

"I just have this Philosophy essay due in two days and honestly, the professor is getting on my nerves. I mean, I know he is really good at everything and knows all about the Elixir of life, but he expects us to devote every second of lives to learning more about philosophy."

"What are you supposed to write the essay on?"

"Life and it's meaning."

"Hmm..."

"And like the good friend you are, I expect you to HELP ME! So tell me, what do you think is life?"

"Life is us breathing every moment so we can read, enjoy birthdays, learn, discover new things, challenge the hardships, find solutions and do something that we will be recognised for."

"Most of the time, ordinary people don't become billionaires and the whole world comes to know and appreciate them."

"That's not what I'm saying. We don't have to be famous to become known. It's like what John Green said, 'You say you're not special because the world doesn't know about you, but that's an insult to me. I know about you.' Sometimes it's best that the whole world doesn't know us. I don't want thousands of people to pretend that they like me, I just want one person to truly care about me. 'She didn't want a million admirers, she just wanted one.' Everything has disadvantages. Even fame."

"You're right. What about us though. Where do we stand in life? What part do we play in the grand scheme of the universe?"

"We don't get to choose where we stand but we can certainly improve or even change it. We play 2 different parts. One part is in life and the other is in the universe."

"How is that possible? We live our life in this universe. We can't play 2 different roles."

"We can. The universe is a chessboard. The pieces on the chessboard have different parts to play but, if you look at it from the piece's point of view, it is the leader of it's own life."

"What part do we play in the universe?"

"I don't know. But it's an important part."

"What about in life?"

"We are main piece in life."

"What's the main piece?"

"The king."