Video - Finding Joy in the Struggle: Embracing Absurdity with Sisyphus

Imagine for a moment that we could witness the world through the eyes of Sisyphus, condemned to roll a boulder up a hill only to watch it tumble back down for eternity. This myth, immortalized by Albert Camus, encapsulates one of the most profound philosophical questions: What is the meaning of life in the face of absurdity? Absurdism posits that there is a fundamental conflict between humans’ desire to find inherent value and meaning in life and the silent, indifferent universe. While existentialists like Jean-Paul Sartre argue that meaning must be self-created through choices and actions, others, such as the Stoics, suggest finding peace by aligning with nature's rational order. However, neither existentialism nor Stoicism fully reconciles the internal struggle against a void of innate meaning. Camus suggests revolting against absurdity by embracing it, finding liberation not in resolution but in the acceptance of the struggle itself. He famously stated, "One must imagine Sisyphus happy." Perhaps our quest for meaning does not lie in understanding the universe but in understanding and embracing our perpetual search for significance, and in that search, we find our true essence. Thus, while the universe may be indifferent, our response to it—our creation of meaning amidst absurdity—becomes our rebellion and our resolution.