The Myth of Sisyphus

"One must imagine Sisyphus happy", is a line that has come to light out through social media as of late which comes from Albert Camus' "The Myth of Sisyphus". This is the story of Sisyphus, a king from Greek mythology who escaped death's clutches and damned to roll up a boulder up a hill until the end of time. This makes me wonder, how can Sisyphus be happy in a situation like this? Where one is forced to do the same strenuous task over and over to no avail. How can he be happy of all people?

From our point of view, it may seem meaningless. The idea of nihilism where the end results with nothing gained and nothing accomplished, with Sisyphus' life bound to a single purpose; to push a boulder. This may not be the case in the eyes of Camus. He was a philosopher of the 20th century in which he endorsed the idea of absurdism. Through this view of the world, one may see our world as a mystery and overly complex system but that is not all there is to it. It is the acceptance of this idea which from then allows us to move on and create our own meaning. Camus was against the idea of not valuing life in the form of suicide and saw it as a throw away of what we have been given before us. Yes, at times life may feel like it has no meaning but that does not prevent oneself from pursuing their own. Back to the idea of a man pushing up a bolder up a hill for eternity, it is how he interprets the life given to him whether it be his life as a king or as a prisoner of time that allows him to embrace life's absurdity and create his own way of living. That is how Sisyphus can be happy.

To finish off, my own opinion on the absurdist idea that Camus promotes is one that is very moved by such a message. Up till now, I feel like there may have been times that I have wanted to give up but realizing that there are things that are out of my hands and accepting the facts allows me to gather my strength and push through to create a path to strive for better. The absurdist view allows us to reject the idea of purposelessness that may stem from ideas such as existential nihilism and create meaning from nothing and help us forge our own ways to make a life we value. Though what we may see in our daily lives as mundane, we must appreciate the experience of what encapsulates us and find our own meaning in it.