What's Our Purpose?

Every Tuesday after class I do the first of my two weekly gigs for the newspaper. I'm that guy who asks random people on the street random questions. Some weeks its fun, other weeks it feels like a chore. This week was somewhere in the middle as after I got done with class I just wasn't in the mood for talking to people.

It was a nice night so I decided to go for a walk in downtown Greenville. With its proximity to the Historic West End district, its a lovely (and safe) place outside of the normal bar and club scene. I wound up walking around Falls Park for no particular reason.

As I reached the center of Liberty Bridge which overlooks the Reedy River and the park as a whole, I had one of those moments where I was pondering the meaning of life. What's our purpose in the grand scheme of things? This moment of personal reflection was probably brought on by the fact that the view was so amazing and perfect that the rest of life's worries seemed to pale in comparison.

Wanting to share the moment (sort of...) I posed the same question via text to a few of my friends. I was curious as to what their answers would be...

"Same as yours...make money and fuck white bitches. What else is there?"

"Sure."

"Not often. Most days my purpose is clear. Do good, help others, and make people happy."

"Honestly, no."

"All the time. But right now I am questioning why you are pondering the meaning of life instead of watching the Celtics embarrass the Lakers."

"Yup, all the time. I just hope my purpose is not to bring about the apocalypse."

"Of course. I hope it's not to work at [current employer redacted]."

"I do. And I think it all boils down to making a difference."

Interesting...