Sisyphus was this Greek guy who got the Gods angry by not submitting to fate. When they finally got him into the underworld he was destined forever to roll a rock up a mountain, and just before the rock reached the top it would slip from him and roll back down into the jungle below, and he would have to walk back down and try pushing it up again.Camus saw the absurdity of the human condition in this story. Sisyphus is the proletarian hero destined to work and labor in futility. He is tragic only when he is concious of the futility. But if he is is concious then he will also appreciate the absurdity, especially when he turns to walk down the mountain, reflecting on how he himself manufactured his destiny.
In that walk he is free of his burden and free within the confines of his destiny to simple be. Camus says that we must imagine that Sisyphus, in this time, is happy.
When I was in college I had had a couple of jobs with some responsibility, but not a lot. At that time I didn't have a very deep appreciation for Camus' interpretation of an old saw about the visicitudes of arrogance. In the years since I have found a very direct application of Mr. Camus' thoughts in the cycles of my career.
The beginning of the month I "put in my papers" as they say in India, or "gave notice" as we say in the states. With this act I entered into what I have come to think of as the Sisyphician state.
My boulder has slipped and getting it to the top of the mountain is no longer my concern. I must walk down the mountain, where there are other stones waiting for me. Soon I will be pushing another one up the mountain, but for now...I am free.Or somewhat free. I still have to come to the office until the end of the month, but as people try to hand me their stones, I give them back with a smile and a shrug.
...and yes Albert, I am happy.
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