By: Gabriela Yareliz
How do we measure life? I was reflecting on this when Ranier Wylde’s words came to me. Wylde discusses Sisyphus. His piece is great, and it reminded me of how much Stoicism has impacted how I think of things in the world. When faced with a dilemma, I do often stop and think about what is within my control.
Sisyphus pushing the boulder up the mountain— Rainier Wylde describes Albert Camus’ perspective (emphasis added):
“This, Camus said, was life.
[…] He says you have to imagine Sisyphus as happy. Not happy because he changed his mindset in order to like the boulder. It’s not like you can trick yourself into enjoying the suffering. He’s not adopting a stoic zen way of making peace with the world. He’s happy because the boulder is his. The mountain is his. The hours of his life he’s spending on this task are the only hours he’s got and nobody else is going to spend them for him! This is something only he can do. […] But more than that he refuses to let Sisyphus hand the hours over to despair instead of living them fully.”
Wylde writes, “Most days I get up, I push whatever the boulder is in front of me, because it’s there, and I must. I make. I make meaning.”
***
What boulder is in your hands? What is your mountain? What are you doing that only you can do? How do you make meaning?
GABRIELA YARELIZ 