MidReal Story
Journey to the Essence: A Quest for Truth
Scenario: What’s the meaning of life?
Create my version of this story
I found myself in a support group meeting room, where I met Alex Johnson and David Lee, two other members of the group.
We decided to embark on a journey to discover the meaning of life, hoping to find closure to our existential crises.
David seemed skeptical of the idea, while Alex was optimistic and curious about the journey to come.
Alex Johnson, a tall man with short hair, raised his hand.
He stood up and began to speak.
“I’m Alex Johnson and I’m here because I have no idea what I’m doing with my life.
I graduated three years ago with a double major in English and Philosophy.
I thought that studying both these areas would make me a better writer and help me understand the world better.
I thought that, with my degree, I could land a job at a publishing company as an editor or something like that.
But no one seems to appreciate the value of a liberal arts education anymore.
All those years in college were just an expensive waste of time and now I’m stuck with a pile of student loans I can’t pay off, working as an overqualified barista in a crappy coffee shop.
The only people who give a shit about philosophy are the customers who come in and ask for extra foam on their lattes.
I feel like the world is moving too fast and I can’t keep up.
“I’m not happy with my life right now and I need to change something.
But I don’t know how.
And I don’t know what to do.”
A woman with a blue scarf tied around her head raised her hand next and introduced herself as Mary, the leader of the support group.
She thanked Alex for sharing his story and asked if anyone else would like to share next.
A short, bespectacled man with black hair raised his hand and stood up next to speak.
“My name is David Lee,” he said.
“And I’m here because my mother forced me to come.”
He paused briefly and glared at me and Alex before continuing his speech.
“I work for an insurance company as a data entry clerk.
I have no passion for my job…but at least it pays the bills.
I thought that if I worked hard enough, it would lead me somewhere eventually…that things would get better over time.
But they haven’t.I’m still stuck in the same place where I started.”
David paused for a moment before concluding his speech with an exasperated sigh.
“I don’t know what else to say.”
Alex raised his hand again and stood up next, eager to share his story with the group.
He was more cheerful this time, as if he had suddenly remembered something important that he had almost forgotten about.
“My name is Alex Johnson,” he said, grinning at me and David as he spoke.
“And I’m here because…”
He paused for a moment before continuing with his speech in a more serious tone of voice.
“I’m here because I want to find out what is the meaning of life.”
Alex looked at me, then at David, then back at me again as he spoke, as if he was trying to make some kind of point with his body language.
“I’m tired of feeling lost and confused all the time,” he continued his speech, looking straight at Mary this time as he spoke, as if he was speaking directly to her.
“I want to do something meaningful with my life, but I don’t know how.
“So I need some help…or some guidance…or some advice…or something.
Anything would be helpful…as long as it’s not another latte.”
Alex smiled at Mary as he concluded his speech, then returned to his seat next to me and patted me on the back as I stood up next to share my story with the group.
“My name is Emma Thompson,” I began my speech, looking around at everyone in the room before continuing with my introduction.
“And I’m here because…”
I paused for a moment before realizing that there was no real reason why I was there in the first place.
I didn’t have any special stories or reasons or explanations like everyone else did.
So I ended up just sitting down without saying anything else, which made everyone in the room look at me like I was crazy or something.
When we left the support group meeting room and walked out into the hallway, we all just stood there silently for a moment, not exactly sure what we were supposed to do next or where we were supposed to go from there.
Then Alex suddenly clapped his hands together, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen over all of us, and said, “Well, that was fun, wasn’t it?”
Emma, how are you feeling right now?”
he asked me with a big smile on his face, as if he knew something that I didn’t know about myself or something like that.
“I’m not sure,” I replied hesitantly, looking around at everyone in the hallway before continuing with my answer.
“I mean, it’s not like we actually learned anything new in there or anything like that.But at least it was nice of them to let us stay there for free.”
“Yeah, they are really nice people,” Alex replied as he turned around to look at David and asked him, “So what do you want to do now?”
David just shrugged his shoulders and sighed as he replied, “I don’t know.I guess we could go get a beer or something.”
“Sounds like a great idea,” Alex said excitedly as he clapped his hands together again and began to walk down the hallway ahead of us in search of a bar that was still open at this hour of night.
When we finally found a bar that was still open, David ordered a beer for himself and sat down at a table in the corner of the room while Alex ordered a latte for himself and went over to talk to some girls at another table across the room.
