Why Is Sisyphus Happy?
In moments of intense despair, I always found comfort in the closing line of “The Myth of Sisyphus”: one must imagine Sisyphus happy. I’ve often taken it to mean that regardless of external circumstances, there is some choice in my reaction to things. Sisyphus, condemned to roll a rock up a hill for eternity, nonetheless enjoys the task for its own sake. However, I have also found myself questioning the premise of Camus argument. If life is truly terrible, isn’t this just a big cope? Doesn’t this amount to simply telling a depressed or traumatized person that they should be happy and smile through the pain? Why is Sisyphus happy? Is he stupid? His life sucks!
First, we should take note of the conditions of Sisyphus and how it relates to our own lives. Sisyphus is in an aversive situation. He is forced to do something that will never work out. Similarly, we have many boulders that will always roll back down the hill. We enter long term relationships and spend our time pursuing degrees and careers. Within our life, many of these rocks will roll back down the hill and, after some grief, we will inevitably start rolling them back up. We could even argue that life is really just one big boulder where no matter how much we do, it all will eventually roll back down to its eventual demise. What’s the point if nothing is guaranteed and nothing lasts and most of this is just oh so terrible?
