"Dialogues of the Soul," an essay by Cecilia Fontana for the Jaquematepress literary contest

 What is life about? Life is about learning… and the more one learns the happier one is… The more one observes and understands life, the easier and more pleasant one’s way through it becomes. However, it is necessary to live and experience things to get this knowledge and wisdom. In my opinion one life is not enough for all the things we human beings have to learn. That is why I am convinced all of us live several lives. In each one of them we learn the things we were not able to learn in our previous lives.

 

     There is a movie about this theme that seems to be related to reincarnation. It is the most interesting and fascinating movie I have ever seen, about two people who die: instead of going to heaven or hell, they go to a different dimension. In that dimension, life is much easier than on Earth. There is no money, people can eat everything they want without getting fat; things are just much simpler. Money does not exist because it is not necessary to acquire things. If someone needs something, they just take it. Food can be eaten in quantities and yet people stay slim, so they enjoy eating as much as they want because they do not gain weight and do not have cholesterol or blood pressure problems either. Everything is very spiritual. Evil does not exist there.

 

    However this dimension also has an aspect that is not so positive: there are also judges, whose jobs consist in judging people’s actions and way of living on Earth. The protagonists of the film are a man and a woman who meet in this weird place and become friends. Afterwards, they slowly fall in love with each other. Aside from sharing many moments together every day, they also have to attend some sort of hearings where they are judged for the kind of life they led on Earth. Every time the woman is judged, she receives only congratulations for all the things she did in life and the bravery she showed while she lived. However, when the man is judged, all he receives is scolding and criticism for the way he lived and the fear he showed throughout his life.

 

    After the hearings, when they meet to talk, the woman is always in very good spirits while the man is just the opposite. What neither of them knows is that they are being judged also for the actions they do there, in the dimension. The woman did the right things in life and she is acting correctly there as well, however, the same thing cannot be said about the man. The most important flaw he has is fear, a recurrent mistake he made in life: he was always afraid of everything. He keeps showing this fear, even while having lunch or dinner with the woman, while being interrogated by the judges and unsurprisingly, when the woman tells him that she is falling in love with him. The funny thing is that he is falling in love with her too.

 

   Some time later the trial period for everyone comes to an end, and of course, for the man and woman as well. At that point, all the judges have to make an important decision: whether to send the “victims” back to the Earth or send them to an even more spiritual dimension, depending of what they deserve…

 

    Finally, once all the judges take their decisions, the woman is sent to this more spiritual dimension, while the man is sent back to Earth. Both of them feel very sad about this, because they want to stay together. The trip to their destinations is to be by train. When the day comes, they are occupying their seats on different trains ready to leave; as both trains start moving, the man gets desperate and does not know what to do to avoid losing the woman he loves. Suddenly, he decides to get off  his train and climb into the woman’s train. While hanging from the wagon, he tries to open one of the doors leading to the woman. The judges watch this scene and they smile at one another. After what it seems like an eternity, they decide the man is acting bravely enough to deserve another fate, so they open the doors and allow the man to get into the train.

 

     In the end, the man and the woman leave together towards a wonderful life… At last, the man manages to get rid of his fear… The same fear that prevented him from doing the things he wanted in his lifetime, the same fear that prevented him from living a fulfilled and happy life…

 

    I wonder how many of us feel identified with this man. How many times in life do we  not dare to do those things we desperately want to? How many times in life do we not listen to our inner voice when that is the only voice that is always right? How many times can we not get rid of the fear that threatens to invade our lives and prevent us from being free? That is why I am convinced that life is about learning: the more one learns, the more one enjoys life. Referring again to the plot of the movie: can there be any room for doubt concerning the role of learning in one’s life?