What Is the Meaning of Life?

When I decided to embark on the journey of finding the meaning of life, I ventured to Vancouver, where fate introduced me to Gerardo, a meeting that has forged an enduring friendship for a lifetime. And he invited me, “You should come to Mexico to enjoy life with us.” Later, he opined, “I think Vancouver did not change you, but Mexico changed you since you saw a diametrically opposite culture from Japan. And you’ve loved it!”

Before visiting Mexico, he said, “Shogo, you will love my brother since he thinks completely in the same way as you do: he forever talks about what the meaning of life is.” The moment I encountered Jorgito, we clicked instantly. Our conversations flowed incessantly, and he quickly became a close friend. Since then, Jorgito has evolved into one of my dearest and most cherished companions.

We have endlessly talked about the meaning of life since the first time we met each other. Here is an excerpt from our discussions on this subject, taken from Liberation: Seeking the Meaning of Life:

It was almost three years ago when we went to Acapulco and rented a very beautiful house on the cliff with a wonderful ocean view. There were ten of us then, eight Mexicans, one American, and me. Jorgito and I were sitting in the garden beside the pool. And he said, “I’m so glad to see you again, my friend, because I want to talk to you about a lot of things. I’ve been vexed. Now you are on vacation, and I know you don’t want to talk about your job circumstances, but tell me sincerely how you feel every day as a slave in Japan?”

“Jorgito, I don’t need to express how I hate my job to you because you already know. I don’t want to take a job, but I have no choice, my friend, because I have a mission in my life. I want to go back to Vancouver, which has everything I need. For example, English Bay and Stanley Park, where I can peacefully stroll around, every corner of the downtown where I can find coffee shops, beautiful mountains, beautiful women, and so on and so forth. I really want to go back to Vancouver to write my book as soon as possible. However, it is too depressing for me to go to work every single day, and I am totally aware that I’m wasting my precious time.”

“Exactly!” he exclaimed. “You know, Shogo, likewise, I always feel I’m completely wasting my time. I’m thinking constantly about what the meaning of life is. It’s always on my mind. I can’t shake it off. I really don’t think working five days a week is the meaning of life. But mediocrities’ goals are having a right to work and getting a good job. Are they nuts? It is insane, my friend. Why do I have to work five days a week for the rest of my life? Life is one time. Who decided in the first place that we, human beings, have to work five days a week? I really want to know because if I could go back to find the culprit, I would strangle him to death. I mean it. I am so angry at this fucking society system.”

“You know, Shogo, I can’t talk about my true feelings with my Mexican friends because they think I am cracked. They don’t understand what I’m talking about, but they always think about how to get a good job and how to get a good salary. They always talk about money. I don’t care about fucking money. I don’t want to be a millionaire. But I just need a little money to take care of myself without being employed. I just want to have my own business and don’t need any employees. I just want to work for myself and want to be free from this fucking society system. Whenever I am in my office, I am no longer Jorgito anymore. I just want to be Jorgito all the time! Every time I tell my friends about my vision of life, they ridicule me, call me a moron, and tell me to wake up and take my life more seriously. Only you perfectly understand me. We are the same kind, Shogo. Tell me what I have to do so that I can achieve my goal?”

I replied considerately, “Jorgito, I totally understand how you feel, you know, because I am completely in the same situation in Japan. It can be safe to say that Japanese people’s lack of understanding of the meaning of life is much worse than that of Mexicans. People simply can’t understand what we are talking about, which I’ve learned from my sufferings. I really think you are special because ordinary people are not able to think about the meaning of life, but you always think about it. They only know how to think about earning money. You want to enjoy life more than anyone else. I think you are the one who takes life more seriously than anyone else. You absolutely know what you don’t want to do in your life and clearly know what kind of life you want to lead. I suppose your friends are jealous of you and envy you secretly because you have the courage to express what you feel and have the courage to persevere for what you believe in. And they know in the depth of their hearts that they don’t have the courage to act as you do. They are actually the cowering ones. I think you don’t need to explain to mediocrities what you are doing because they’ll only give you pessimistic answers. Ordinary people are ignorant about life, but we are the ones who know about life more than anyone else because we’ve been trying to understand it. You just do what you must do and think about only your mission in your life every day. Just ignore ordinary people because talking with fools is completely wasting your time. You don’t have any time to waste, for you must fulfill your destiny. I always ignore the Japanese and concentrate on my mission; it’s very hard, though.”

I took a cold Fresca from the table and drank it to quench my thirst.

“Yes, it is goddamn difficult for me to persevere in my mission in Japan. I am perpetually vexed, depressed, and melancholic. The perfect trilogy, ha-ha-ha. That’s the truth. That’s why I always take a vacation every six months to visit Mexico. Frankly, Jorgito, whenever picturing to myself that I’ll be working five days a week like a slave for the rest of my life, I feel like committing suicide. I really don’t want to hang around with the Japanese because every time I go out with them, they always complain about their job circumstances. They just want to get it off their chest so that they can go to work the next day as if their sufferings had disappeared. You know, I don’t want to jeopardize my life like them. They are incurably ignorant because they will do what they don’t like for the rest of life and will never know the meaning of life. When they retire, they will realize they haven’t done anything in their lives except working five days a week constantly. It will be too late for them to change their lives at that juncture because they will be simply too old to do it and will be totally depressed if they think about it seriously. What they will have in their heart for the rest of their old lives is absolute regret for their past life. I refuse to be like them and am happy being alone in Japan, even if I sometimes feel unbearable loneliness. You’ll be better off alone, trust me, Jorgito. It’s better to be alone than with someone who doesn’t understand you. Besides, I don’t have any time to listen to their nonsense because I have an important mission to fulfill. Being a writer is the most important thing in my life, not taking a job like a slave. Hence, I always contemplate my new adventure, namely, going back to Vancouver to write my book, which gives me hope and courage.”

He jumped around the chair and delightedly interrupted me, “You are the man, Shogo! You always teach me how to endure my sufferings and what I have to do to fulfill my mission. You know, Shogo, I totally agree with what you said; everything, down to the last details, and you always inspire me. I promise I’ll do my best for my mission and will soon quit my job so that I can be free. I know my friends will say a lot of foolish things to me, but I’ll ignore them. If I try to explain to them what I’m doing, it’ll be wasting my breath because they simply can’t understand. I have a great deal to achieve, so I can’t waste my precious time and breathe either, ha-ha-ha.”

Here, I couldn’t refrain from bursting out laughing because of his pure enthusiasm and said, “Cheers for our freedom, my friend!”

“Salud por nuestra libertad, amigo!”

After a brief silence, he said, “You know, Shogo, you are one step ahead of me because you absolutely know what you want to do for the rest of your life. But for me, I just know I don’t want to participate in the society system, don’t want to be employed, and just want to be free.”

“I guess it doesn’t matter. The important thing is whether you fight for your dear life each day, even if you have no idea what sort of road you’re going to walk on in the future. And I am pretty sure that you’ll figure out what you want to do in your life along the road.”

“Yeah, I guess so. Thank you very much for always encouraging me, Shogo. But I feel as long as I am employed, I can’t escape from this frivolous society system and cannot find the exit. I’ve been running, running to try to escape from this mess all my life, but I only find walls that have obstinately blocked me so far. But you know, I am a warrior; I’ll fight for my dear life until I find the exit! I think God has sent you into my life so that I can complete my mission; I really think so.”

He gulped a glass of whisky and pointed out a house down there with his pensive thought, “Look down there. Can you see those houses, Shogo?”

“Yes, I can see them.”

“Shogo, here in Mexico, we have a bunch of poor people. Our economy is very bad because of the fucking Mexican government. You know, Japan is a very rich country, and the Japanese might have money, but they don’t have any life, and they don’t know how to enjoy their lives. I think the Japanese are very sad people because they just work, work, work every day. See those people down there? Even though their houses are almost decrepit, and they don’t have any money, they have mighty sunshine; they enjoy their lives so much, and the mighty sunshine gives them courage each day. We Mexicans know how to enjoy life with only sunshine!”

I was completely touched by this simple truth and exclaimed, “Jorgito, you are utterly right about it. Japanese are miserable creatures, unfortunately, who only know how to go to work on time every day. I am ashamed of my fellow countrymen. They should learn how to enjoy life more than how to make money; however, it’s hopeless for me to talk about the simple truth to them, shit! You are lucky for being a Mexican, not being Japanese, ha-ha-ha.”

He replied with tears of laughter in his eyes, “Shogo, you really hate Japan. I thoroughly understand you, so don’t worry. However, it’s so funny to see one genuinely despise his own country from the bottom of his heart, and I’ve never seen one expressing his hatred toward his own country so violently in my life. I am sorry, I’m laughing at you so much, but I can’t help it.”

He wiped his tears with the back of his left hand and continued, “Here we are, just sitting with a beautiful view and aren’t being worried about anything. We’re just enjoying our talks and feeling so relaxed and peaceful. It is the meaning of life, Shogo!”

At this moment, Gabriel passed by and gave a loud fart right beside us without any embarrassment, as if it were a Mexican’s privilege to fart publicly to their heart’s content.

“Fucking Gabriel! He certainly has no shame, that idiot, but Jorgito, it’s the meaning of life, too!”

“Ha-ha-ha! Stupid Gabriel! It is the meaning of life, too, of course, Shogo!”