Ok, first off. Is this a shameless plug for my book?
Yes of course it is. But also I would like to explain my reasons for writing the book in the first place. Now I am aware that most of you are writers and creators so I’ll spare the “it was yearning inside me” tropes for another time. But the reason I wrote this is purely to see if I could.
To see if I could take an idea inside me, not the story mind you. But the idea of being a writer, and putting it into the world. Showing people, some close to me and others that are not, that I can be more that what is always on display in front of them
To show others your writing is to let people inside your head, even if your writing fiction and a character in no way embodies any of your own characteristics, those thoughts and words came from somewhere in you. And when you show others this, I have have found it to be more anxiety inducing then public speaking. Thankfully when people read my book (which is about a very violent and otherworldly cult) they didn’t change their opinion about me too much.
So this experiment was a success, the data was recorded and now I am halfway through my next book. Thank you for reading and supporting me.
“This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night filled mountain, in itself forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”
– Albert Camus, The myth of Sisyphus
Followers of my writing know that I depart from topics that I take up only to return to them eventually down the track somewhere at sometime. Many reasons I suppose for this behaviour. First amd foremost I am a writer that enjoys many topics and I am fascinated by many things. But the one thing that acts as a tree trunk for all the meandering concepts, stories, advice and rants is philosophy, and how we can take the deep thoughts, meditations and questions from dead and alive men and women and apply them to our lives.
An absolutely beautiful guidline of philosophy is it rarely ever has a set interpretation, rather it offers a new way to think about ideas or problems or indeed yourself. And that’s where we come to Sisyphus.
The long and short of the ancient myth is that Sisyphus was a great king who was hated by the gods. They had sent their version of death to claim his sole many times but each time he outsmarted them. Finally, finally hades hatched a plan to put a large boulder at the bottom of a long slope in a cave, at the top of the slope was a hole that lead to the outside world. Hades and death brought Sisyphus down here and told him “we are sick of this game we play, we only have one final test for you. Roll this boulder up to the top, then you you will claim immortality, but once you start, you cannot stop till you reach the top”
Sisyphus was bold and had already outsmarted the gods and death itself numerous times, so he flicked back his golden hair and placed his hands on the boulder. It was heavy but he could roll it slowly, and by the time he got to the tope he had expended all his strength. But then the boulder jumped out of his hands and rolled back down to the start. Hades had cursed the boulder to never reach the top, effectively trading Sisyphus in this constant pushing then walking back down and pushing for all of eternity.
How do we apply this to our lives? Well let’s look at his task. An unlikeable one to be sure. He could wallow amd lament. He could thrash his feet and cures the heavens. Or he could spite the gods that cursed him. If we imagine Sisyphus setting about his task with a broad grin, laughing as the boulder rolls to the bottom, then he hasn’t lost. He is the king of his own environment. Completely in charge of how he views his reality and not tossed about carelessly by forces beyond his control. And by reframing his outlook. His life will forever be positive.
If you enjoyed this please share and tell me what you think. I would love to delve more into philosophy at some point. Also follow my new writing instagram, – kj_thewriter
Dr Carrington limped ungracefully as he moved through the valley. Not four hours ago he had gained conciousness after his plane, an old british dual prop airframe usuallly reserved for mai service, came in low as it tried to glide into the valley on no power. They had been traveling from Dar es Salaam to Jordan when the had lost engine power somwhere over Egypt and as they decended they found themselves over a vast dry and flat valley amoungst the sands, Tall buttes and flat toped sand stone monoliths shooting up from the valley floor. the ground seemed flat so the pilot attempted to come in and land but the left wing clipped a butte and the steel bird slammed hard into the floor. the two pilots sucumbing to their injuries shortly after and the wreckage cathing fire, The good doctor had no choice but to set out in search of help.
Miraculously he only sustained a few broken bones in his foot which whilst causing him pain, didn’t prohibit his locomotion to much and for this he was thankful, for as he moved slowly through the valley he soon became to realise that if he did not find help soon he would be forced to take shelter in the small cracks in some of the large limestone buttes. He was aware of Bedouin herders that travelled in valleys like this and set up camps due to the flat ground here so his chances of survival, whilst slim, were better then nothing. The sun was setting behind him drawing long shadows in front of him. night was coming and he would have to find shelter soon. a large mesa towered out of the ground in front of him that had a vertical crack in it, at least there he could make a fire and be safe from the night winds. he approached quickly as he estimated he only had a few more hours of day light left. The crack was about ten meters high and two wide and seemed to snake its way into the mesa. The doctor couldn’t help himself, the curiosity of what lay further down the crack enthralled him and after all there may be a spring or the something that he could use to make his situation a little brighter. He ignored the pain from his foot and followed the snaking path. It twisted wildly and at some points perplexingly it seemed like it should of twisted back onto itself but he never found himself in a part of the trail he had previously walked. He braced himself against the wall to take the weight off his foot for a moment when a curious sight caught his eye. On the trail ahead of him appeared to be a sort of stone tablet, jutting out of the ground. He limped over to investigate. It was perhaps as large as a tombstone and covered in markings he had never seen before. certain that this was evidence of human habitation further ahead he pushed the pain out of his mind and marched on, curious at what lay ahead
the fit philosopher 