Even IF you somehow manage to navigate today’s maze of failures, rejections and heartbreak, what is your reward? To live yet another day in misery? To wait until climate change, war or disease does away with us?

A reward would be to be able to rest. I don’t mean death per sé, but it seems like that’s the only real-life thing left available to people like us.

Yes, yes, I know very well that “if nothing has meaning, YOU get to choose the meaning”. Except I don’t. Maybe if I was rich or powerful. But I’m poor, in poor health and powerless.

I read Camus’ Sisiphus, and I, for one, cannot possibly imagine him happy.

  • HelloThere@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    0·
    4 months ago

    I read Camus’ Sisiphus, and I, for one, cannot possibly imagine him happy.

    My friend, the reason Sisyphus is happy is because he achieves his goal everyday.

    That isn’t the same for you, which is why you cannot comprehend him being happy.

    It may be difficult right now, but can you think of something that gives you satisfaction? Not something that alters your state (drink, drugs, etc), but something that as you do it, brings you some sense of relief, or a slight smile?

    To live yet another day in misery? To wait until climate change, war or disease does away with us?

    I struggle with this massively, what I need to constantly remind myself is that myself as an individual cannot solve any of these problems. It would be like if Sisyphus’ task was to carry an entire mountain up the hill. But what I can do is identify my own boulder and carry that.

    For example I recently got a micro-plastics filter for my washing machine. In the grand scheme of things does this make a meaningful difference? That depends on what you consider meaningful. Is it reducing the amount of microplastics in the ocean? Only by a teeny tiny amount, but it is dramatically reducing the amount that I am putting in. And that gives me some satisfaction. It is meaningful to me. Is it going to save the planet? Fuck no, but I feel better knowing that I’m at least not making the situation worse.

    You clearly care about these big problems because you’ve mentioned them here, so what I’d ask you to think about is what would be meaningful to you? What is your boulder?