In Greek mythology; Sisyphus is a king who is punished in hell for cheating death. He was punished in hell by the gods by pushing a large rock up the mountain where the rock after being at the top would fall back down and Sisyphus had to push it up again, and so on - forever.
The philosopher Albert Camus rewrote Sisyphus's Mythology and said that we can imagine that Sisyphus could be happy in his torment. Sisyphus, someone who is tormented forever in hell and can not go anywhere except pushing a big rock to the top of a mountain, can be happy.
We can reflect on ourselves, workers in modern times, like Sisyphus. We work until the afternoon, then come home to rest like Sisyphus who descends the mountain as the rock falls, and returns to work again the next day like Sisyphus who again pushes the rock up to the top. With this analogy, can we also be happy in our daily life? Albert Camus describes an absurd human figure who can be happy anywhere and anytime as long as he lives in this world.
Absurdism is a philosophy that answers whether humans find meaning in their life in this world? And what is absurd is the basic desire of humans who get meaning from life in this world, but the universe cannot provide an absolute answer. So an absurd man is a person who accepts this absurdity sincerely. This acceptance will set him free, and he can be happy here and now.
The absurd man will see that he is so tiny and almost lost in the vast expanse of galaxies. The vast earth is just a small planet that is like dust in a very large space. In this immeasurable universe, all matters are extremely insignificant. Absurd man will never think of a problem or anything, because all his affairs have nothing important to this universe, and he is free from anxiety. Absurd humans realize that what is certain in this world is death. He knows that all civilizations will perish, all that has started will end, and nothing lasts forever.
In the end, everything is nothing important and everything will have no meaning anymore. Absurd man will live his life feeling full of gratitude because he is still alive and can enjoy life. An absurd human would live the day happily, eating his food as deliciously as if it was his last meal, and indeed could be. He will respect life and respect others, we can all part at any time because death is certain to come uncertain. Absurd humans as much as possible have fun and throw away worries.
With everything temporary, meaningless, and certain to perish; absurd humans don't want to cling to anything. Everything to him was just an illusion, nothing important, meaningful, and all the same. Through all the ages; hard and happy, absurd humans will remain calm. Peace will break because he can see everything as it is, without needing to be labeled anything and need not be given any meaning. The absurd man is happy with whatever he has without being attached to anything because anything will perish.
Without attachment, we will not feel happy whenever and wherever we are. Free to play and celebrate this temporary life but we should be grateful for this. Happiness is in our own hands, independent from outside, from whatever we have, or whoever we have, because nothing is eternal, nothing is important, nothing matters. Happiness is within, stems from our calm, detachment, freedom from everything, the sincere acceptance of the absurd.
Free to be happy, now and here, anytime and anywhere.
