The Myth of Sisyphus

Whisper it, but I think I actually like this brave new world in which we live. Sure, it hasn't drastically altered my work-from-home, run-from-my-front-door way of life, but still, things feel peaceful. Neighbours are being neighbourly, people are sitting in their front yards enjoying the sunshine, there's virtually no traffic on the streets, and I can hear kids playing in gardens and birds singing in the trees. Dare I say it that this is actually idyllic?

I'm currently editing a piece for Tracksmith on the way runners around the world are coping with the crisis. It's interesting reading. The idea that some people are still training, running workouts and grinding through the uncertainty seems like a practical application of the existentialist ideas Albert Camus explores in the Myth of Sisyphus.

From the Spark Notes:

"Camus identifies three characteristics of the absurd life: revolt (we must not accept any answer or reconciliation in our struggle), freedom (we are absolutely free to think and behave as we choose), and passion (we must pursue a life of rich and diverse experiences)."

For his classifications, I think Camus would describe athletes as artists as we create our own worlds of meaning and then go about documenting them. In training for races that may never happen, we are embracing the Sisyphean ideal, finding meaning in our own self-imposed struggle.

The whole thing is clearly absurd, and yet, I find meaning in being able to run every day, and I find order in aiming for a completely arbitrary weekly mileage.

Sisyphus was condemned to spend his life repeatedly rolling a rock to the top of a mountain, only to see it roll back again. The gods could think of nothing worse than such futile toil. And yet, here we are as runners, embracing the futility, and even finding meaning in it.

In this absurd situation, I think that's a good way to live.