The Chessboard of Life!

Hello, Everyone!

A bit about Zentangle:

The Zentangle® Method is an easy to learn, fun and relaxing way to create beautiful patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. "Zentangle" is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

ZenCrazy is back again! And this time, I have a whole new lot of philosophy for you! This post is about a short story written by Andy Weir. It is called The Egg. And I, in typical ZenCrazy fashion have formulated this amaaaazing short story, into a theory! You can read the entire story, The Egg, by Andy Weir, over here.

Basically, the story is about how every human being, every animal, every plant, every microbe, basically, every organism to ever have lived on earth is the same. Now, I am not talking about gender equality and caste equality, but literally, every organism on earth is essentially the same. We all are incarnations of the same soul. You are me. I am you. You are Mahatma Gandhi. You are Abraham Lincoln. You are Akbar. You are Michael Jackson. You are Adolf Hitler. You are a frog. You are an ant. You are an elephant. You are your best friend. You are your worst enemy. You are your favourite actor. You are a farmer. You are the Prime Minister. Heck, you are Donald Trump! The only other person to exist in the universe apart from you is God. No, I am not talking about Jesus, or Shiva, or Krishna. They were all men. They were all you. I am talking about the power, the force, which is the source of all creation. The omnipotent, the omnipresent, the omniscient divine being. God is the only other deity in the universe other than you.

My tangle represents the same. So before, I start explaining, here, take a look at my tangle.

The black and white figures in the black and white squares represent humans. They are pawns, rather, we are pawns, mere pawns, in the divine chessboard of life. Each one of us is important in order for the game to be won. Each one of us serves a different purpose in the game, but essentially, we all are the same. Each one of us has a myriad of qualities within us, each one of us learns something different in our lifetime, and each one of us contributes something unique each time we are born, but we all are actually the same. Pawns, that is what we are.

The first pawn in the first row represents a happy, bubbly, effervescent person, who always manages to bring a smile to your face. She is ever-cheerful, and always enjoys a good, hearty laugh. She is like a chocolate cookie; always welcome to bring in the sunshine.

The first pawn in the first row represents the typically annoying person we all know – the one who manages to remain happy even after the most dismal of days, the one whose giggle is so irritating! Heck, she has a smile on her face even at a funeral!

The third pawn in the first row represents a determined person, who knows what he wants, and gets what he wants. He is clear about his goal and works hard towards it. He strives towards success and achieving all he wishes for.

The third pawn in the first row represents an ambitious person – a person perhaps too ambitious for his own good. All he ever cares about is his goal, his target. He is cold, and calculating, and will stop at nothing, absolutely nothing to fulfil his wishes.

The fifth pawn in the first row represents a dramatic person. We all know her – she is the one who adds spice to even the most mundane day ever. Listening to any anecdote that she narrates is no short of listening to the audio of a movie, with gasps, dramatic expressions, and breathtaking action that you can almost visualise!

The third pawn in the first row represents the typically melodramatic person, replete with wailing, whining and unrealistic expressions and sighs in almost each sentence. Trust this person to never give you the truth. She will tell you what you want to hear, in the most entertaining way possible, with not even an ounce of truth within it.

The first pawn in the second row represents a typically meek person, hiding in the shadows, barely visible, but always there. He won’t make his presence felt, but he will be there for you when you need him. He is interesting in his own way; the bulge of the pawn in my tangle represents his subtly interesting personality.

The first pawn in the second row represents the most dangerous person ever. He is a silent killer, hiding in the shadows, striking when he must. The bulge in my tangle represents his deceptive personality, a proof that behind his mild exterior lies a highly deadly personality.

The first pawn in the third row represents a modest person. She is a prodigy, blessed with a brilliant mind. She is talented, yes, but she covers up her talent. She blushes when she is praised, and she brushes aside all compliments, choosing to do what she always does the best – shine softly, and gently.

The first pawn in the third row represents an insecure person. She is talented, she is great, but she envelopes all her talent under layers of insecurity. Never has she ever felt satisfied with herself, with who she is, and has always yearned to be someone else, someone so different, that she has forgotten her uniqueness, the essence that makes her…. Her.

The fifth pawn in the third row represents a confident person. He has taken a lot of risks in life, experimented with a lot of things. He hasn’t been successful each time. But he wears his scars with equal pride. He doesn’t cover them up and is confident of who he is, and how he is.

The fifth pawn in the third row represents an arrogant person. He has no modesty whatsoever and flaunts everything about himself. Each general conversation turns into a story of his adventures, and he is the typical snob who everyone resents.

The second pawn in the fifth row represents an inspiring person.  She has the ability to motivate and encourage others when no one can. Her ideologies and her beliefs are so appealing, that they spread like wildfire.

The second pawn in the fifth row represents an influential person. She can make others do whatever she wants. She can make others believe any idea, any story. She has the ability to talk others into doing even the most unethical things on earth.

The colourful flame at the centre represents God (as in, the divine energy) and has six colours, each of them representing a quality essential for the survival of mankind.

Red represents love. Orange represents passion. Green represents trust. (The rectangles are the steps of a staircase. Man always trusts the almighty to provide step after step, for him to keep climbing the ladder of maturity.)  Blue represents consequence (Like the ripples in water). Indigo represents imagination and creativity to turn the impossible into the possible. Violet represents transparency.

All in all, my tangle represents the fact that each person on the earth is unique. Each person can be good, as well as bad. Each quality of a person can be viewed as a virtue, as well as a vice. Till the time the human soul matures to combine with the almighty, we will keep on judging each other, demeaning each other, praising each other and criticizing each other. Accept all humans, animals, plants, all organisms, all life forms on earth with open arms. Accept everyone; they all are forms of YOU. Till the time we mature, we must live with all the different incarnations of our self.

That is all from me about The Egg by Andy Weir! So long, my fellow friends and tanglers! Happy Tangling!