We split things into catergories so easily. But black and white is a bold and neverending one it seems, as if the pieces of society have been set up to mimic a chessboard, the opposite spectrums of light using stragety to overthrow their opponent. Using Pawns, Bishops, Knights and Castles to save the monarchy via tactics and planning. No similarities to real life there at all eh? People have noticed we appear to be those pieces on the chessboard, most of us general folk being the pawns, but while also being able to recognise the other ‘players and pieces’ involved.
And while it may be a basic analogy likening real life to a game, it’s far more complex than that. I briefly touched upon chess being a good way to understand the prethought that goes into some things being played out in my article Opposition. While they want everyone to be opposed to each other, and not agreeing, it achieves division for things and people are more prone to not stand together on anything. Did you ever meet someone who seemed to argue or disagree just for the sake of it, because they like irritating people? If you haven’t, great, but they are out there, and being encouraged more and more. Trying to show that it makes you an individual if you ‘go against the grain’, but sometimes good to note, the grain goes a certain way for a reason.
And what comes of all that divison, of pitting light against dark, black against white, up against down? Well, ironically, it leads to a strange outcome. Unity. But what kind of unity is an important one. There are two in my view, the type of unity where everyone is forced to get along for the ‘greater good’, and it happens by way of regulations, controls and conversion to their way of thinking, totalitarianism. Or, there is the type of unity where the people focus their attention on the ones instituting the ideals and systems which facilitate division, where the only common purpose is to take out your opponent, not go to war for them or help them as we have been forced to for generations, but to actually see them for what they are.
Because behind the well lit black and white board, and the carefully set pieces that have to run to rules and have a set goal, there is a murky grey area. We get to see the main set up once the pieces are laid out, and be on the board running through our moves until removed or ‘taken out’. But who set the board? The ones who sit behind the chess board deciding how long each move will take, hitting the timer and the next move is then taken by the other side. Back and forth, in a controlled, strategic and agreed manner, but with the ultimate goal of beating your opponent and winning, with the pawns and pieces being used as necessary to achieve that goal. You wouldn’t be able to play chess with someone if they didn’t know the rules or moves, or if they flipped the board everytime they lost a piece, you just wouldn’t engage with them anymore. So before you play chess with someone, you find out if they can play, how good they are and whether it will be worth your time to play a game with them. I suspect that’s why the ones who control the board, appear to play so well with each other, because there is an accord going on, of skill and purpose.
Back to the murky bit though. The area they don’t really want you to focus on, we’ll call it ‘The grey matter’, just like the term they have given to the unknown bits of our brains. We also use that colour to convey that something is a bit of an unknown, a ‘grey area’ we would say. And strangely we have named a certain type of ‘alien’ as the greys, giving shape, name and form to a mysterious group, but by making them out to be alien, gives us a view of them as they would like, as if they were easily identifiable by look alone.
But maybe we have that to be a comedy front, for the real shadowy greys that create the black and white landscape, the one that creates shadows for them to hide in. The shadows of fear, uncertainty and hopelessness. It’s where they live and thrive, and can only have those conditions if the ones who are thrust upon the board keep playing. And when I talk of black and white, I do not mean the colour of people’s skin, I mean the intention in their heart and what dwells within them. There are those who can create lightness, and those who can create darkness, so being able to manipulate or amplify either one of those, must be an advantage in the game of shadows. Not just for the ones doing it, but for those who end up being their keepers or who benefit from their uses, they can become an important tool and weapon. So, maybe once in a while, leave the board and the set pieces too it, and wander off to find a bit of colour…
