What we can learn from Sisyphus

To stare into the void and try to make sense of all of this, it’s absurd as philosopher Albert Camas has called it. The absurd lies in the juxtaposition between the fundamental human need to attribute meaning to life and the “unreasonable silence” of the universe in response. Humans are a walking contradiction trying to find meaning in the meaningless. Camus compares the absurdity of man’s life with the situation of Sisyphus, a figure of Greek mythology who was condemned to repeat forever the same meaningless task of pushing a boulder up a mountain, only to see it roll down again. The essay concludes, “The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”

While our instant gut reaction is to say, “My life is better than pushing a rock up a hill,” how is it any different pushing a rock up a hill or sitting in traffic, paying taxes, going to a bull shit job day after day, dealing with the pain of our bodies failing us or the heartbreak of loss? It is all absurd. Even the fun stuff. We climb mountains because they are there not because we have to. Pushing a rock up a hill is no different. It is equally as absurd as anything else.

Camus argues that we can instead imagine Sisyphus as happy. That he can reminisce on the struggle on the way down. The struggle is the struggle. Camus writes, “From the moment of absurdity is recognized, it becomes a passion, the most harrowing of all. Individuals should embrace the observed condition of human existence while also defiantly continuing to search for meaning.” In essence, once we recognize our own absurdity and accept it, it frees us to find our own meaning.