Doors are weird.
You’re in a room, the kind of room which you never really think of leaving.
There’s a door, though.
And in this otherwise perfect room, the door irks you.
You don’t know what’s on the other side.
It might be paradise. It might be hell.
It might be nicer than your room. It might be worse.
It might bring you right back to where you are.
Do you take the door?
Air
The door, it turns out, is just a doorway without one.
You can see the other side: it looks like paradise.
You can always return, and all will be as it was before you left.
Do you take the door?
This one is feels easy.
Maybe I’m wrong: it’s an illusion, and I return.
But there’s a safety net, and that’s reassuring.
I take the door.
Not much can go wrong.
Wood
Well, I lied—there’s a door. A real, tangible one.
You can’t peek through, but you can still walk back.
You might enter paradise; or you might briefly endure hell.
Do you take the door?
At a glance, the choice isn’t much harder.
But life in the room seems nearly perfect.
Would I risk being thrust into hell for a chance at something better?
I hear two voices:
“No. How much better could it be?”
“Yes. How else will you ever know?”
In the end, I remember my safety net.
I take the door.
I could always return.
Glass
Now the door is glass. You can see the other side: paradise again.
There’s a safety lock, though: you may leave when you wish, but never return.
Your glassy judgment is all you have.
Do you take the door?
Permanence is terrifying.
The glass helps me, but maybe the other side really always looks greener.
I don’t need to leave now, either.
I can spend an eternity in the room, happy and safe.
But the vision still remains, temptation.
I wait a long while.
I take the door.
I see where it leads.
Metal
You’re back to blindness; you can’t see through this one.
The lock stays; your trip is one-way.
You can still choose to say in your room for as long as you like.
Do you take the door?
The stakes are higher.
I could lock myself into hell. I could stay, and never know what I’m missing.
But I can wait. Push back the decision.
I wait an eternity. My life is spent happily in my perfect room.
I take the door.
I have little to lose.
Time
Let’s do everything all over again, but the door disappears overnight.
You must take it soon, if you take it at all. Pressure mounts by the minute.
Do you take the door?
I can’t decide.
I can’t decide.