Learning to Play Chess

I get inspiration when I watch a movie or hear a song.  I feel so alive and have so much commentary running through my brain in the moment.  I see it all swirling around, in my mind, in my heart, in my being.  So, I go.  I run to my desk. I sit down to my computer to write about it.  I get the title...and then it's gone.

I know there was something really good here that I wanted to share.  Some great metaphor about life and love and living because that is all I really seem to care about these days.  But I just can't reach down and find that nugget of truth that I knew was being handed to me, that I knew I possessed at the time.  Because perhaps, I guess, truth is like love and life and living...it's not enough to have it, you can't just possess it, you have to LIVE it.  You have to encounter it over and over until it not only feels like truth to you, it actually becomes you.  Your truth.  You own it.  You live it.  And if you are lucky enough, you love it.  But that takes practice.  Lots and lots of practice.

I want to learn to play chess.  I have wanted to learn since I lived in Texas.  Last month I stumbled upon a Netflix series called The Queen's Gambit, and I became interested again.  Really interested. I became enchanted.  I became inspired. So, I ordered my own little chess set that I could learn on, and I ordered Chess for Dummies, because, well, I love books and I thought it could help me learn.  Actually, I think it will be a good resource.  It is written in a fun and digestible way.  But here's the thing, I have to do the work.  I have to get in there and "play" chess.  I have to practice.  I have to learn. 

(164) THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT Trailer (NEW 2020) Anya Taylor-Joy, Netflix Series - YouTube

And to really learn, I am going to have to get a partner.  I'm going to have to risk looking ridiculous and dumb, and most likely, unlike the genius chess prodigy on the magic screen, I am going to have to lose.  But loss, like losing a game of chess is not a bad thing.  It's a learning thing.  Just like loss in love, like the little things, like having to admit that I was wrong, or that I don't have all the answers, well that kind of loss just helps you grow.  It helps you become a better player in the game.  It helps you become a better person in life...if you let it.  

Sore losers, well, that's wasted energy to me, as I am not a genius in the game of chess or the game of life or love.  I'm just trying to learn the hard lessons and become the best player...not a good choice of words.  Hmmm....trying to become the best competitor...no. Trying to become the best experiencer that I can be.  To experience chess, to experience life, to experience love...that's what I am here to do.  That's who I am here to be.

(164) Creating The Queen’s Gambit | Netflix - YouTube