Dear XYZ,

The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.

Recently, one of my favorite YouTubers, the Green brothers, made videos about Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus. Thought it’ll be nice for me to revisit it.

I first got to know about the story through a philosophy course in college by one of the most important teachers in my life. That was also the time when I was looking for another philosophical (or perhaps some would say spiritual) footing as I was progressively becoming detached from the Catholic faith that I was brought up in.

I am inclined to say that a huge part of my worldview today is shaped by Existentialist philosophy, especially that of Camus. I think that we are thrust into this existence not by our choice. And it’s odd and beautiful how we try to find meaning in what seems like an ultimately meaningless universe. Except that it is meaningful because we create that meaning by being. We are the color in what is otherwise a grayscale void. And that’s a part of why this is so absurd, we didn’t have any choice in being; it almost seems like humans are built to seek meaning, but there’s no meaning to be found, at least in the metaphysical sense where most people tend to look.

I think struggling to find or make that meaning is central to the human experience. Trying to figure out who we are and what we want to do in our limited time here prompts much of how we feel. But I think that’s the whole point. The way that Camus’ melodramatic frenemy Sartre would put it is that “man is condemned to be free.” The agency that we have over our lives is a blessing and a curse — we are responsible for how we live our lives. For many of us, we’re so lucky to be given the breath of life and to experience what it has to offer. We’re fortunate to live, learn, and iterate.

The act of putting one foot forward, falling, picking oneself up, taking another step, and repeating that again and again until our time here ceases — I find that a beautiful thing to do.

xoxo,
K