The Origins, The Beginning...and, er, The End?

You might be wondering, "Who the f*** is Sisyphus and what the does she have to do with anything?"

First of all, Sisyphus is a "he", but then with a name like SIS-i-fus, it is an acceptable misunderstanding. Second, Sisyphus is rather a smart-aleck if you ever did meet one. But you won't because he's currently pushing a massive rock up a very large hill...only to have it roll down the hill once he gets to the top, so he has to start over.

A pointless exercise, but hey, that's the curse he's stuck with thanks to the Olympian gods. Tying Death up in the Underworld was apparently not the smartest thing Sisyphus had ever done. Well...I actually thought it was pretty ingenious...until Death got out.

This blog-idea (and title) all started when I began reading some articles on existentialism this week whilst researching another article that I am writing (which, surprisingly, I get paid to do). Whilst wading through my research, I stumbled across Albert Camus who wrote several existential works including - you guessed it - The Myth of Sisyphus, where he uses the analogy of Sisyphus to depict the futility of our existence.

Now, doesn't the grind of that stone up that hill sound familiar? Monday to Friday, nine-to-five...doesn't it just bait you, raise the angst, make you want to put down arms and yell "WHY??" Well, yes, I admit it, there is a poignant emptiness to Sisyphus's life, a meaninglessness, that struck a cord in my existentialist heart. But Camus does encourage perseverance despite the absurdity. What other choice is there?

It is after all in our nature to fight for life, to question our existence on Earth. Why are we hear, why for such a short time, who are we really? Are we defined by our actions or do our actions define us? An existentialist would debate that our existence precedes our essence (our values, belief, morals). In other words, we determine the meaning of our own life.

The basic beliefs are that every human has free will and the ability to shape their lives. But then, wouldn't everybody shape their lives to a better, higher place? Not necessarily monetarily, but for mere well-being?

Some of the most successful people are not successful because of mere luck. If all it took was a horse shoe to be Bill Gates I think there would be a lot more billionaires rolling around.

The question is are we ready for that sort of responsibility?

Well, it's Friday right now, so ask me again on Monday.

Oh, and as a finale on the First Post: I assure you that it has never been in my nature to be all doom and gloom (okay, I lie, I sometimes get neurotic tendencies like everyone else - momentary lapses of judgement), so you can definitely expect NOT to have a "the world is such a rotten place" rant in this blog. Unless I'm in a really pissy mood. Then I will bark like a...um...well, you can figure it out.