VII. Push & Shove. The Chariot

    With little light left available at this depth, you find it troublesome to make your way around. If you didn't have your jellyfish friend, you're not sure how you'd manage it. As you make your way deeper alongside your friend, you're able to make out another cliffside. Having seen nothing for quite some time, you curiously make your way over with your bioluminescent companion and notice that this part of the ocean is also incredibly alive, just like the coral reef, but in its own way. Attempting to push fear and judgment of the unknown out of your mind, you looked at the inhabitants of this cliffside kingdom. Whereas the inhabitants of the coral reef were extremely bright and beautiful, most of them having mystical colors, a lot of the creatures before you now could be categorized as creepy and dull. Their appearance did not push you away though, in fact, they intrigued you. As your eyes dart back and forth, observing all of the many occupants of the cliffside, the king of this abyssal kingdom, a large eel, rushes past you. Your eyes are captured by the eel as you watch it quickly swim around its kingdom. Any fish that was in the eel's path quickly swam away, making way for the king as he made his rounds. The eel is a strange red color, changing each time the light reflecting off of it changes. You kept your distance from the eel, not wanting to alarm him, so that you could continue observing him in his castle undisturbed. With no eyes to see it, this creature has built itself a kingdom. In a vast world where in other parts he might become a meal for another creature, he lives as the leader here.

    The other subjects in the kingdom of the eel were not as energetic as the fish seen at the coral reef but instead lived a much more mellow life. Just as their counterparts near the surface of the water do, the fish who live in this eel's kingdom play a part and fulfill a generational purpose simply by existing within it. All the occupants of this cliffside have made this wonderous deep sea kingdom their home, raising generations regardless of the fear of death constantly peering down on them. Despite what they face, each fish here faces each day with the same determination to live as the last. You feel admiration towards the fish here as their courageousness is something you wish you emulate one day, and you will. Life is meant to be lived without fear. The fish teach you that regardless of what stands in the way of living, you must live. Don't allow your anxieties to suffocate you or you are robbing yourself of what you eternally deserve.

    Showcasing a beautiful end to a cycle, your attention is brought back to the king of this cliffside as it eats the fish you were looking at in the blink of an eye. The eel continues to dart around, sometimes capturing minuscule fish in its mouth for a quick snack, showing the temporality of existence, especially at this depth. As you've been on this journey, you've come to realize that everything moves in cycles, so the fish that fell victim to the eel will simply have to try again next time he's born, hoping this time he will get it right just a little longer before eventually falling victim to the cycle of life once again. It is inevitable that everything will come to an end and will be separated. Just as that is true, it is also inevitable that everything will come together again, in this life or the next. Feelings, people, and places; everything will fade with time and be replaced with new feelings, people, and places. Learning to embrace the temporality of it all will lead to a greater understanding and love for the world around us and ourselves. You will grow old and you will change, that is inevitable, and you must embrace it. You try to center your thoughts on the present moment once again as you follow the eel on its final journey around its kingdom before it retires to its home. It enters a small hole in the side of the cliff and sticks its head out, its mouth slowly opening and closing. For now, it will rest. Rest as it has fulfilled its purpose to be the protector and keeper of life for all that live in his abyssal kingdom. When he awakens, it will continue this cycle until it begins the next.