“Wake up!” They said. 

“I had never been asleep.” My eyes were closed just resting. The visions continued inside. They reflected the reality outside with an understanding. Reality doesn’t have a manual just a record of what happened. All those various threads intertwined leading to now. 

“What did you see?” They asked. 

“It’s really hard to say. Some parts of it flashed really quickly. While other parts of it I can’t recall but what sticks out in my mind is this single celled organism maneuvering through space. It looked like some kind of protozoa and when it encountered something like an obstacle it kept ramming its head into it. Time and time again I saw it try to get by this thing that was in the way. It’s little cilia beating furiously as it reversed and angled itself for another approach.”

“That sounds like something that one would see under a microscope.” 

“It does doesn’t it.” I replied quickly. 

“What do you think it means?”

“It can mean many things. What I suspect it represents is how our lives are no different from these little cells trying to make their way in life. They encounter an obstacle and try to go around it. They search for sustinence and try to reproduce.” 

“Surely you are not saying that our lives are like those of these simple creatures?”

“In aggregate there are a lot of similarities but yes, there are differences. We live longer and are more aware. We can plan and anticipate. We can use tools and logic. But isn’t it interesting that if we find ourselves in a new place don’t we kind of behave kinda like them?” I waited for their response. They seemed to be considering how to respond. 

“We don’t behave anything at all like protozoa. Our intellect sets us apart from all the creatures on this planet.” They said before continuing “the abstract argument you make makes it seem as if life has little to no meaning. It seems nasty, brutal and fleeting.”

“You asked me about what I saw. The meaning of this vision seems to me to have many forms. The complexity of our existence evolved from simple little creatures like these. Isn’t it interesting though that life can exist as a single cell and that it can perform all those tasks as an individual making its way through the world. At some level it has to have at least some awareness of its surroundings.” I challenged them. 

“That may be true but what kind of awareness can it really have? It just senses an obstacle and then moves in another direction.” They retorted. 

“This was a vision and there is symbolism within this. As a singular unit this life form is just a part of a greater ecosystem. It came from something and it will turn into something else. Furthermore, it is symbolic of you and I trying to make our way in this world. Don’t you see that?” 

“Perhaps you may have a point. The same could be said for any number of metaphoric representations that are found in the arts.”

“Exactly.” I concluded.