This week’s goal was to write a blog based on what I believed The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus was about.
My objective was to articulate my thoughts on the concept of Hope. Based on the one quote I’ve heard from Camus’ work – “One must imagine Sisyphus happy” – I was confident in my abilities to predict the philosophical argument.
What often happens is I have an idea for a blog or video, some thought that’s been cycling through my brain that I believe is original. For some reason or another, I don’t write about it or post anything and then, as I continue reading works of philosophy, I discover someone has already shared their ideas on the same subject. With the loss of originality, I move on, for I feel my input would not add anything to the sea of thoughts on the topic.
This time, I wanted to formulate my own ideas on what I assume the essay is about before reading it. The goal being to prevent the lack of creation on my part simply because someone else has already written about something. Even if my thoughts are unoriginal, there’s a sense of originality because I allowed my brain to naturally explore a topic before ingesting someone else’s beliefs.
In my quest to learn my views on Hope and write my blog, I ended up learning something unintentional. This blog shares the story.
As always, I don’t have all the answers, but I hope my expedition to try finding them in my life inspires you to start the search in your own.
If you enjoy this blog and would like to support, I’d greatly appreciate it!
On Hope
My confidence going into this week was sky high. My process started early Monday morning with writing a series of notes on Hope, what it is, what its uses are, what it can teach you, and if it’s necessary for living a meaningful life. From the jump, I was deadset on Hope being utterly unnecessary and a waste of time. Hope was nothing but another name for desire that sought a certain result from a world that doesn’t care about your desires.
My beliefs were coming from a place of truth as I genuinely do not hope for anything in my life.
That may sound bad, but not hoping for anything is not the same as hopelessness. To not hope is to not desire certain outcomes. To be hopeless is to give up any attempt at living a better life.
I do not hope, but I am not hopeless. I know life has ups and downs, enumerable outside events are happening daily, obstacles try to block my path, and some days are incredibly difficult. When these things happen, I do not hope for better, I do what I can to make life better.
Through discipline and awareness of my emotions and habits, when something is out of whack, I have the confidence in my ability to readjust and get my life back on track. Hoping doesn’t add anything to the outcome, it just forms an unhealthy attachment to the results. In my life, hope has no space. It feels passive and unnecessary.
As I considered all this, a question popped into my mind: “What if this is it? What if there’s nothing more than what you have now?” This felt like the eureka moment, like I fully understood the essence of the eternal damnation of Sisyphus, the man forced to roll a boulder up a mountain until he reached the top and it went rolling back down. Could he possibly be happy? Could I find happiness in doing the exact same thing every day?
This is where my mind screeched to a halt then fully shifted direction.
While I could find contentment and even happiness in living this mundane life, that may not be the case for the person at the depths of despair. Tip-toeing the line between having hope for better and utter hopelessness. How could I possibly make the claim that hope was pointless when there are people who only have hope?
My contentment and happiness in the mundane only comes after months of hard work. There was a time when I didn’t have much other than hope. When I was at my lowest, I held on to hope for the restoration of my life. Knowing I had optimism, joy, and motivation prior to my worst days encouraged me to try finding them again. I hoped for better because I knew what better looked like.
With whatever energy I could muster, I went to the gym, started dieting again, removed distractions, went to therapy, did a lot of reading, and explored the complexity of every emotion I was feeling. Stoic philosophy brought control back to my life. Existential philosophy added depth and understanding to my subjective experience. My impressions aligned themselves more with Nature, my emotions received the acknowledgement and compassion they needed, my impulses lost their hold over me, and peace began to show itself.
I’m incredibly grateful to be at this stage in my development. This is the most stable and in control I’ve ever felt. My life no longer feels directed by someone else, but actively chosen by my own will. So if this was it and there was nothing more to life, I’d find contentment in the routine and joy in the search for meaning. Every day may look similar, but with each day, I learn more about myself, my emotions, and my impulses. I’ve found satisfaction in doing this exploration of myself and look forward to each day’s teachings.
So I no longer hope for better because I’m enjoying what I have right now. I try to never wish for life to play out in certain ways because I know Nature will do whatever it pleases. All I aim to focus on is my own thoughts and actions. If I hope for anything, it’s to have the virtue necessary for accepting and loving whatever Nature chooses to throw my way.
After four days of thinking about Hope and whether I thought it was useful or not, I realized, Sisyphus isn’t about Hope at all. I was asking myself the wrong questions.
If Not Hope, Then What?
I think each of us is placed in our own unique sphere of mundanity of our own creation. Some fall victim to it, some seek to escape it, others learn to embrace it. Sisyphus is the third and that is why he is happy
Sisyphus had no use for hope. HIs choices brought these consequences upon him and now, this boulder was all he had. There was no reason to hope for better, this is all he could do for eternity.
Much like in this sphere of mundanity that Sisyphus inhabits, each of us has one thing in common: our thoughts. No matter what is taking place outside of us, nothing has the power to control our mind. Sisyphus may be forced to struggle for eternity, but it’s his choice to think of whatever he pleases. Whether you want to call what you do a struggle or not is up to you, but each of us has our own repeated daily tasks.
We’re not meant to escape the routine or fall numb to it. We’re meant to embrace it and find meaning within it. To fall victim to the mundane is to become the routine, to lose your awareness of yourself. Life is no longer your choosing, but events happening to you. You find yourself swept into the ebbs and flows of a 9 to 5, seeking comfort and relief, and never questioning anything.
To try escaping the mundane is a false hope. The pursuit of more will rarely amount to satisfying results. You’ll seek peace in new places, different faces, bigger dopamine hits, larger bank account numbers, and distractions. In all these externals, one thing still remains: you.
When I sat down to write my argument on hope, I was excited to take all my notes and make something of them. After a few hours or writing, deleting, questioning, taking breaks, and getting nowhere, I stopped trying. I don’t often watch YouTube anymore, but in my desire for direction towards a cohesive blog, this video crossed my feed:
安曇川 と 竹竿職人の小さな幸せ │ A Little Happiness Of Fly Rod Builder
From this video, a line stood out to me. “I’ve come to realize that rather than competing with each other over the size or number of fish I catch, I find more joy in the comfort of being toyed with by the fish swimming in the river. I would like to seek happiness by struggling with the laws of nature, which will never have answers, and by being engrossed in them.”
That evening, after dinner with my parents, a different understanding of Sisyphus hit me.
Over the course of the week, as I wrestled with my own thoughts on hope, I often caught myself smiling or laughing at my own struggle. My inability to find black or white on the topic kept my mind active for days. The number of thoughts and ideas I had on one topic was astounding. I thought I found my answer so many times, but as I wrote, I convinced myself otherwise. This blog became the most challenging to write, but I loved every second of it.
The process of using my brain, weighing each side of the argument, and trying to establish my thoughts on hope, filled me with so much entertainment and joy. The happiness was in the process and I had no attachment to the outcome. I knew a blog would be written either way, so pivoting at the last minute didn’t scare me or upset me. None of it was a waste of time.
I’m grateful to have built a level of control over my emotions and their impulses. I’ve developed a much healthier relationship with my mind and thoroughly enjoy being alone with my thoughts. As my unhealthy impressions on the world around me start to fade, I have more time to focus on my own thoughts and ideas. It’s not my job that needs to change, I don’t need to be more social, a romantic relationship isn’t required, none of this stuff will guarantee happiness. Accepting where I am, investing time into my thoughts and emotions, and understanding myself on a deeper level is all I need to be content and happy.
Sisyphus could very well be happy. He could find joy in the mundane routine he’s now in. While he has no need to hope for something better, he can still learn to look inwards and find meaning within himself. The external scene in which he’s placed will never change, but the thoughts and feelings within him have a lot of room to improve.
I think that’s true of all of us. No matter where you find yourself in life, if you start learning to acknowledge your own emotions and show yourself compassion, I believe you can improve the one thing you have control over. Your own mind.
Final Thoughts
As I continue working on aligning myself with Nature, my desire for certain outcomes continues to dissolve. As I attempt to stay present and mindful, allowing Nature to pan out how it may, I find myself feeling more connected with and fascinated by the flow.
An idea pops into my head, the book I’m reading mentions the same idea, I overhear people discussing it at the coffee shop, YouTube recommends a video with the perfect quote, and all these other little moments combine into a blog like this. It’s an incredible feeling to witness Nature as it guides you towards a certain outcome before you’re even aware it’s happening.
All the planning, note taking, thinking, and writing are leading to something. It isn’t always obvious where that might be, but it’s important to keep your eyes open to what Nature wants you to see.
While I’m not stuck in this routine like Sisyphus, I am also not trying to escape. Even though I could change a lot of aspects of my life in an attempt to find meaning, I don’t believe it’s necessary. If I accept that this might be my situation for the rest of my, there should be some way to find contentment and joy in that. I’ve found that through understanding what’s going on inside my mind and body.
Maybe you won’t see the same results, but I’d encourage anyone to give it a try. I find it hard to believe learning more about yourself could lead to anything but more peace.
July 20, 2026
