absurdity II

in lit yesterday we discussed the theme of


ABSURDITY: the human desire to find meaning in life and the ultimate failure to do so.

and when you come to think about it, life is all about being absurd, isn't it? we can't make sense of all the chaos and turmoil in the world, and as much as we try to interpret, categorize, break down, assimilate reality... we can't apprehend a larger meaning to this life. why are we here? is there any purpose to our lives? hence arises the conflict between evasion and exposure: two ways (see, our innate desire to categorize things) by which human beings react to this absurdity. suicide & religion (at least to me) belongs to evasion because both entails a refusal to face the absurd, to take control of our lives instead of having Life manipulating us. Albert Camus proposed that the ultimate confrontation of absurdity is the best exposure - through accepting the absurd as a way of life, we construct a personal meaning for ourselves. This may not sound like much but it made a lot of sense to me after a while. Since we can't attempt to account for a larger, shared meaning to our existence, the only reasonable thing to do is to find a personal meaning to our own lives. Doing things that make you happy. Having goals to remind yourself of your motivation to live.

the point is, total evasion is not an acceptable (or intelligent) way out of this absurdity. being defensive and creating a tough, jaded exterior does not make you happier. sometimes when people let you down and everything goes wrong, you get hurt beyond repair... so you start to insulate your inner self from the rest of the world, stop letting people in so they can't get to you. but no matter how well you think you've gotten yourself hidden, "there are still cracks and Life still trickles in..." (Persona)


i wish i had known this a long time ago.