A Chaotic but Perfect World: In the Epping Forest

Priorities for having a dirtless soul

Serly's and Oliver's staring contest or language or whatever that is, lasted a minute... because it got interrupted by Selena, "Serly, push the bottle".
Serly removed her eyes off of Oliver and pushed the bottle.
Funny how everyone was quietly watching the bottle. It was obvious they were all thinking about different things. Their eyes were focused but their minds were off to another place.
The bottle stopped. It took a while for them to realize the bottle isn't moving anymore.
Selena was the first to wake up. The bottle was in between her and Emily, "You lot, wake up!"
Everyone glared at her. She made a questioning look on her face.
"Just in my natural habitat", Emily said.
"Same", Serly spoke.
"I guess I can say that too", Oliver mumbled.
"I know that we're all the types that never stop thinking, but we really need to focus", Selena stated.
"Okay, hey Selena? Just let me enjoy the last happy and free moments of my life", Oliver joked.
Emily and Selena laughed while Serly rolled her eyes.
"I'm serious. This thing that we're doing right now? It's important. That's why we're doing it. You know me. I never spend my time on rubbish", the leader said.
They all nodded. Then they zoned out again.
Selena shook her head, "EMILY COME ON! YOU HAVE TO ASK ME A QUESTION OR TELL ME TO DO SOMETHING!"
They all startled.
"Jesus Christ...", Emily mumbled.
Selena looked at her aggressively, "WELL?"
"I...ca...well... maybe...but no... I just...", she looked at her timidly and continued, "...need more time?"
Selena sighed. Oliver smirked and joked, "The computer is loa...",
Selena looked at him angrily and silenced him with just a look, "Okay, sorry...", he whispered, barely audible.
Selena shook her head with disappointment, "This isn't working...I guess we're going to stay as co-workers and never friends".
Serly's eyes lit up and she slowly stood up while terribly faking sadness, "Yeah...too bad...stuck us just co-workers instead of friends...very sad and important. Since co-workers is all we are I'm going to go work. There's no use in trying..."
Her happiness was unmeasurable. She turned around ready to leave until...
"Sit down", Selena's stern voice ordered.
Her lips fell on the ground. She turned around.
"Serly", she was all ears, "Why do you hate us so much?", Selena seriously questioned.
"Hate is way too strong. I prefer 'not ready to open up yet'", Serly stated.
"Okay, but just tell us why?", Selena kept asking.
"Because", she shrugged.
"Because?", she seemed surprisingly unsurprised.
"Yes, just because", Serly unemotionally made clear.
Oliver and Emily moved their heads and eyes to Serly then at Selena. Then they realized they were both doing the same thing and began arguing without words. Emily pointed at Oliver, shaped a mouth with her hands and pointed at herself with a questioning and angry look. Are you mocking me, you little monkey parrot? Oliver smirked and shook his head, then pointed at her and himself. Emily was angrily surprised. How dare you blame it on me, you fox! Emily shaped a moon-like shape with her fingers. That meant the blame slid on the moon and slid back to Oliver. Oliver made the same shape. Emily became much more determined to win. Soon they got caught by the serious people and laughed it away. But actually, they were both showing each other the 'I'm watching you' sign.
"Besides, I believe actions tell the truth much more than words", Serly continued.
"So, that makes these two children", Selena looked at them.
"Well... not children...just immature", Serly corrected.
Emily's and Oliver's faces flashed to Serly.
Both of them spoke, "IMMATURE?", they looked at each other angrily, "Oliver, will you stop monkeying around and grow up?", Emily told him.
"Uhh, I didn't know your name is Oliver. I thought yor name is Emily. Guess I thought wrong... But what I do know is that it's completely normal for you to talk to yourself loudly. I mean, at least you're being honest with yourself", he shot back.
Emily looked flabbergasted, "HUH?"
Selena and Serly shook their heads and chuckled, "Let's just...not make this game awkward and play it the way we want. For example, if you ask a question to me and the answer is long, then new questions are born, you shouldn't wait for your turn to come, just ask it away".
They all agreed and looked like they lost a ton of weight from their backs.
"Now, Emily, ask me anything you want. Doesn't matter what it reveals about me. You'll get to know me better by my actions. We'll do this the nontraditional way", she said.
"Great idea. Also, we should try to learn some stuff from each other. I mean, we all know something that the others don't know, and teaching can help you establish the knowledge", Oliver suggested.
"Yeah, you're right. So, Emily, I hear your words", the leader turned her attention to her.
"Uhh...I want some suggestions and tips on how to stay motivated until the end", Emily said.
"Great question! All you have to do is stay focused. I know that you can't do that, so I'm going to tell you how to stay focused. First things first, fall in love with the process. If you love it, you'll work on it and lose track of time, then you'll finish it quicker. I know that you always get distracted by new ideas, and I suggest you write all your ideas down, so after you accomplish your goal, you start the new project and go on", Selena answered.
It seemed that Emily was not too sure she has the ability to do all that. Serly continued Selena, "And when you're working on something and you realize that you're getting unmotivated, remind yourself of all the good things that will happen after you reach your goal. Another thing you should do when you realize you're losing motivation, is avoid thinking about all the steps you have to take to reach your goal. Every step that you take are small, so, obviously, there's gonna be a lot of them. It's like, when you're, for example, reading, you look at all the pages left and say 'nah this is all too much, I give up'. The damages are, that first, you don't read it, so you don't learn it, second, you get bored, and third, you waste your time on something inefficient, like games, then lose track of time, not get enough sleep, harm your eyesight, get addicted to laziness, stay a loser and complain that life is terrible and become a nihilist. Life is great, you are terrible. There are people out there who dream of having everything you have and grow, but you here have everything but don't even want to get up to get a glass of water. So really, your biggest enemy is listening to your body's will instead of your mind's. Laziness is a very very very bad thing and you must not let that dirt touch your soul and dirty it. Just...think about it logically, if you don't work to reach your goal, what will happen? And what will happen if you do reach your goal? Which one's better for you? Which one will give you power and everything you want? You can celebrate the small goals you reach, but I rather not, because you might feel better at that moment and forget about the future, then start everything back from zero".
Emily listened to all the suggestions and tips while nodding and, hopefully, taking notes in her head.
These suggestions weren't just for Emily, they were for those who need advice. And that includes Oliver, who disagreed with Serly's last suggestion, "I don't think celebrating would make you lazy. I mean, if you don't celebrate, rest or have fun... you'll get addicted to work, that means you become a workaholic. I'm guessing that's what you do. Work, work, work, drink water a bit, eat a little bit and sleep. Am I right?"
Serly was carefully listening to him, "You're right about the becoming a workaholic part, but what you said about me was not entirely right. If I have work, you're right, I do everything you said, but I don't just work on the same thing. I do unrelated stuff too, for example, if I'm doing something that I find boring and useless for my future, life etc, then I'll just pass on that work lightly, and by that I mean I do research on other things while doing that thing. The only reason I work so much right now, is because I find it interesting and useful. It's like Selena said, fall in love with the process, lose track of time, finish the work quicker".
"I'd say you're madly in love with this process. You prefer work over... let's name this leisure time. And...I don't think that's healthy", he argued.
"It's not. Too much of everything is bad, just like too less of everything is. You just have to...stay in the middle. But the opposites are important too. If they're natural. If they're meant to be. Opposite forces create balance. Balance is important. Without balance... either chaos rules, or robot humans, by that I mean stuck in the mud people, rule. So it has to be 50/50", she agreed.
"Well, yeah... that's how it's supposed to be. Natural things should never get messed up and non-natural things shouldn't stay the same. Everything that exists...is supposed to be that way, the way they're born is the way they were meant to be. After all, nature and everything created by humans...they all work together... most things, if not all, created by humans were inspired by nature. It's the same thing, but it's unnatural", he continued their deep conversation.
"Yes, I agree... And humans are a part of nature and they must take care of it like it takes care of them. There must be a motherly love in between humans and nature. And everything we, as humans, do... must not be a harm to nature. But sadly, everything we do is a harm to nature", Selena voiced her opinion.
"So let's destroy humanity!", Serly exclaimed, making everyone laugh.
"I'm in!", Emily volunteered.
"Actually, no, let's not destroy humanity, let's destroy money. I know that most people will lose motivation without money, they'll stop working, or they'll become depressed...they won't see how they could benefit from work...but people would start doing whatever they love, they won't think 'I want to become a...an artist, but my parents say that I won't earn enough money...so I should become a lawyer or a doctor instead.' And they'll stop thinking 'She's poor, I won't befriend her, she's too rich, she's out of my league...' and so on. As in for shopping, they can exchange items like they used to in the past. There will be equality, happiness and health", then she suddenly stopped, "There won't be war for richness and there won't be manipulation to earn money. But I think there will be unfairness. Yes, there will be unfairness. Because many people don't want to work at all. They just want to live a worm's life. Eat and drink, watch tv or whatever, then sleep. They don't deserve all the things people who work do. And there will still be greed, jealousy and pride. The only thing that's solved is health and equality. Equality means no opposites, so no balance, so chaos. That's bad. But nothing's going to solve every problem of the world...so... money should stay I guess... without money there'll be chaos and unfairness. That's very bad. Everything's bad...we just have to take care of ourselves and everything we care about on our own. Not as a society. But as individuals. I might be wrong...but I rather fly solo. It's safer, quieter and, well, better. No betrayal, no pain after loss, no dependency..."
Selena looked at Serly with sadness visible in her eyes, but she was softly smiling, "Is...that the reason you don't want to have relationships with people", she asked sincerely.
Serly lightly nodded, "People have lost my trust", she looked down and continued, "Being good at... almost everything... isn't really the best thing. People will see you just as a way to fix their lives. They'll see you as a way. Not as a human. Not as a personal noun. But as something. A way. A shortcut", she looked back up, "I mean, I'm glad I can help people fix their lives, I'm glad they trust and depend on me, I'm glad they want my help...but really... that doesn't mean they have to cross my boundaries".
Selena sighed, "I've met many people like that. And even thought one loved me. And I loved him. But he was just a user. And an abuser. And I have to admit, I also kind of lost my trust in people. That happens. But... I'm working on it", she shrugged.
Oliver looked at her surprised, "You've...had a boyfriend?"
She nodded and chuckled, "Why, do I really seem to not be girlfriend material?"
He shook his head and squinted, "No, it's not that...do... I know him?"
"I don't want to talk about him", her face went unemotional.
Oliver stopped asking her any more questions and changed the subject, "So...we went from motivation to world's problems and then to relationships".
They all chuckled.
"And we learned a lot about each other. Well, more specifically, about each others' thoughts, but your ideas also say some stuff about you, since your ideas include your preferences, your experiences, your...umm...I guess expectations...uhh... what else is there...", Emily thought.
"Preferences are the present, experiences are the past, expectations are the future. That means your thoughts and personality is affected by your surroundings. That means tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are", Serly connected patterns.
"So whoever has no friends is nobody?", Oliver asked so foolishly, just to irritate her.
"That still tells something about them. Whoever has no friends is a...an 'outcast'. Or a loner. Or a misfit. Or someone out of everyone's leagues. There are a lot of possibilities", she argued.
"Everything you said are extremely different from each other", he continued.
"So?", she challenged.
"You can't tell who someone is by their friends", Oliver stated.
Serly stared at his face like he's stupid, "Did you know that's a saying, so...not literally. It just means you are what you are surrounded by".
"But there are people who are not what they are surrounded by. For example a child with, let's say, a narcissist mother and a... sociopath father will be traumatized...but not be a narcissist or a sociopath", he disagreed.
Serly stared at him unemotionally, "What you said is, if you grow mushrooms in a toxic environment, then the mushrooms won't be toxic and you can still put it in your soup. Sure, the mushroom doesn't become the toxins, but still becomes toxic. The toxin affects the mushroom , so it becomes toxic, still dangerous. Traumatized people are also toxic. So are depressed people. They drain your energy with their negative energy".
Oliver looked at her amused, "What's your religion?"
Serly looked confused, "Why are you asking me that? What's that have to do with our-"
He interrupted her, "Absolutely nothing, i just want to know".
Serly blinked confused, "I...am an apostolic christian".
All three of them looked at her and at the same time asked, "Apostolic?"
"Yes... apostolic...why? Is... there something... about it?", she furrowed her eyebrows confusedly.