Rebellion, freedom, and passion
The 3 antidotes to absurdity according to Albert Camus
Whoever told you that you came to this world for a reason was mistaken. And in that very absurdity is where the adventure begins. It is where you can shape your present with thoughts of a better future. It is where those flashes of brilliance, which you can count on one hand, grow until they become something tangible.
Because the first step to receiving the antidote is to inhale the poison. The poison of the absurdity of being alive. And that’s why, as I said in my previous post, that absurdity that is living should make you freer. Because even that antidote is nothing but the poison itself in small controlled doses.
In “The Myth of Sisyphus,” Albert Camus refers to those three antidotes:
“From the absurd, I have derived three consequences: my rebellion, my freedom, and my passion. With the mere game of consciousness, I transform into a rule of life what was an invitation to death…”
And from there, you can understand that you are facing a drawer containing three vials with the cure for the absurd.
The first one inspires you to leap over the wall between the norms imposed by others and your way of life. It inspires you to take a breath so you can keep swimming against the current. To step off the path that others have walked to get lost alone in the forest under a blanket of stars. To take nothing for granted and to ask yourself over and over again if what you are doing is right.
Because being rebellious is sometimes the only key to unlock the shackles that hold you captive.
The second vial reminds you that taking responsibility for everything that happens in your life is essential. That without it, freedom is not possible, because it can only exist in a mind naive enough to think it owns its path. And that, in turn, can dodge the malicious voices that will make you believe that everything is a matter of chance.
The last vial contains a flame within. It tells you to wake up each day with the bright eyes of the child you still are, even if he is hidden somewhere inside you. To do things with love. To live believing that everything is possible, even though deep down you know the odds are against you. To keep playing and to keep doing new things, because there is nothing braver than doing something a thousand times, even if you do it wrong a thousand and one times.
We all need a bit of this to live a life worth living. And here, I won’t disagree with Camus, because I agree with him wholeheartedly.
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