Existentialists explain reality as conflicting with an individual's desire and due to being-in-itself's unexplained existence, lacking inherent meaning or essence. So in a sense, reality is a blank slate in terms of how consciousness relates to it. A person adds his or her meaning to events and phenomena in order to operate and escape nihilism.

The reason for my response is that existentialism is not solipsism although some people may mistake it for that. The emphasis is on meaning and living authentically. The phrase "everything happens for a reason", even searching for the lesson learned from an event; these are existentialist things. Its about consciousness creating an order to the absurd and meaningless reality, which at the root is organized by time and space which are ways in which consciousness creates meaning. Existence in itself is timeless without consciousness. This doesn't mean solipsism per se.

For instance- obtaining closure after a traumatic event is one way we subjectively make sense and create meaning in order to move on and strengthen ourselves. Closure isn't absolute truth as the intersubjectivity of conscious experiences prevent an absolute truth or definitive meaning. Being lacks inherent essence until the person ascribes it essence. This isn't solipsism as much as it is interpreting reality to avoid nihilism.