Every once in a while, I get recommendations for the book to read. And even more rare, I dare to follow advice. That is precisely what happened to me when I bought and read "Why Are You Here Café" by John Strelecky, highly recommended by a friend of mine. And to me, it was fun to read, more like when adults read fairytales written for kids. And this is a good start. Ironically, I would rather start with the book My Journey to Existential Books and not with The Ways of Freedom by Jean-Paul Sartre.
But let's talk about the book itself.
The skeleton
The narrative revolves around John, who is just your average American guy who, after some time of intensive work-without-vacation time, decided to recharge his battery while travelling. And on his way to travel, he got lost in "the middle of the middle of nowhere". But in the US, even in the middle of nowhere, there should be a diner, and surely enough, he found one. And, of course, they serve breakfast at 10pm because it is a US diner. And, of course, on the menu, John sees 3 questions which he had never asked himself before:
- Why are you here?
"- Are you saying that once someone asks themselves 'Why am I here?' they won't be able to ignore the tion? I asked. - No, it's not that they won't be able to. Some people glance at it, and perhaps even see it, and then they forget about it. But for those individuals who ask the question, and on some level truly want to know the answer, ignoring it becomes very difficult."\
"When a person knows the reason they are here, they have identified their 'Purpose For Existing.' We call it 'PFE' for short. During someone's lifetime, they may find they want to do ten, twenty, or hundreds of things to fulfil their Purpose For Existing. They can do all of them. Our most fulfilled customers are the ones who know their PFE, and try all the activities they believe will fulfil it."
-
Do you fear Death?
-
Are you fulfilled?
"What we were just talking about. Why is it that we spend so much of our time preparing for when we can do what we want, instead of just doing what we want right now?"
"The problem is, because the job isn't fulfilling, and because we are spending so much time at our job, we feel more and more unfulfilled. Around us are many people who talk about how they can't wait for that day in the future when they will retire and then do the things they want to do. Before long, we too start to envision this almost mystical time in the future when we won't have to do this job and can instead spend our time doing the things we want to do."
"What I'm wondering, is how much of that would I want if I didn't have the need to 'escape,' or 'unwind'? If I was always doing what I wanted to be doing, then there should be less to escape from, and probably not nearly as much stress to be unwound from, either. I'm not saying I would go live in a shack in the woods somewhere, but I'm wondering if a person's definition of 'a lot of money' varies based on how much they're living a life that ful- fills their PFE."
To me, it sounds just like your regular questions, but not for John. He is awakened by them, totally caught off guard! And here, the Existential journey begins for him. Over a series of conversations, Casey, the waitress and Mike, the cook, share their wisdom and encourage John to examine his life's purpose. Through these thought-provoking dialogues, readers are supposed to be prompted to question their existence and reassess their priorities. The café becomes a sanctuary where individuals from all walks of life gather to seek answers to their burning questions.
Key Themes Explored:
1. Purpose and Passion: Do not put your life on hold; instead, just find what you love and live it now.
2. Self-Reflection: conscious choices should be made based on one's purpose, not what culture or others say to you.
3. Embracing Change: don't wait until it's too late, live the changes.
The meat
So, to function correctly, the skeleton needs muscles, and the book needs its own `muscle` -- the story itself. Unfortunately, there are no stories in this book besides the simple `meet the stranger at the cafe, and your life will be changed by morning by simply talking to another human being.` The dialogues, not events, occupy the biggest part of the book. When I was reading it, I remembered a writing workshop which I attended years ago, where the workshop conductor criticised young authors for using only dialogues to uncover good ideas. Instead, he taught us to use scenes to convey the thought, not to put it in the mouth of the Protagonist. Well, it seems like the author of this book didn`t attend that Workshop.
So, my key point here is that a good idea requires an exemplary scenario in which it will be able to develop. As complex beings, we are not used to just picking up ideas and reflections which are out there waiting to be caught by our eyes. Instead, we live ideas by experience. The book can be a bridge to the experience we never had but were able to share through the living experience of the book`s characters.
Luck of limitations and Instagram thinking
The reason why it is so hard for us to change smth in life is all sorts of limitations, such as a social environment, responsibilities, mental problems, and so on. So, even if we want to change something, it is possible, but it requires effort and time. Especially if talking about radical changes such as a way of living. In this book, the life limitations are entirely ignored. Seems like the main character is just a tabula rasa and has no limitations at all.
So, why did I mention Instagram? The answer is simple -- nowadays, social media generates considerable frustration in the likes of the regular person because of all the motivational/inspirational posts, which in practice can not be achieved as easily as they sound.
Try to remember when you read some inspirational post
calling for a change, were not able to achieve the change and felt down afterwards?
We all feel like it from time to time. So, I think every change should be conscious, and if it is a radical change for the better, it cannot be a struggle. Life is not easy, and any part of it which has value is not easy too.
Better options to discover Existentialism for beginners
It's subjective, I know, but I will give three options to read that I like and which are not complicated to read for a person who has not been exposed to Existential literature before:
-
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
-
The Guest by Albert Camus
-
The Trial by Franz Kafka
