“One must imagine Sisyphus happy”
📆 The year is 85% over — let’s make this last 15% of 2024 count, shall we?
Issue #203: Misery, prejudice, and…finding your joy!
I’m not going to pretend to know what this week was like for you. If you’re in the U.S., emotions range from utter despair to satisfied jubilance; I can only imagine what it feels like to be following along from abroad, but humans tend to be, well, human, and our range is only so wide.
Wherever you land on that spectrum — whatever part of the world you’re in, however you voted — there’s a part of you that will find something heartening in this essay from writer Jon Krakauer (adapted from his book Essays on Wilderness and Risk). It feels essential to the experience of being alive in this moment (or maybe any moment): “Lately you’ve found yourself wondering if the end of civilization might be at hand, and you are not alone in your apprehension,” Krakauer writes.
We may be in (or entering) an especially difficult time, and Krakauer’s advice is to look to literature for guidance. “If the going gets especially tough,” he writes, “you consult Albert Camus.” Camus’ book The Myth of Sisyphus defines something useful about reframing your despair, finding a way to acknowledge it, take responsibility for it, and thereby get past it. In the end, Camus argues:
Sisyphus determines that “all is well,” despite the ceaseless misery he must endure. “The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart,” Camus observes. “One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”
⚡ Lightning round: Great, recent Medium stories in 2 sentences or less
- From a professor of public policy, three things to be looking for in the Trump transition: what agreements will they sign, who will be leading the team, and which rules will they follow (or choose to ignore). (Heath Brown)
- Dealing with prejudice at work is one of the hardest challenges a leader can face; your best place to start is by creating space for the conversation, starting with talking about concrete examples. (Kim Scott)
- You probably won’t agree with all of them (I didn’t), but these 22 thoughts about what Trump’s win means will make you think. And they end on a note I think we probably can all agree with: “This election will impact some people more than others (both emotionally and practically), and we’ll all be better off if we conduct ourselves with humility and give each other some grace.” (Isaac Saul) in The Political Prism
💡 Today’s top highlight
In a country as big and diverse as ours, we won’t always see eye-to-eye on everything. But progress requires us to extend good faith and grace — even to people with whom we deeply disagree. That’s how we’ve come this far, and it’s how we’ll keep building a country that is more fair and more just, more equal and more free. — Barack Obama, Our Statement on the 2024 Presidential Election
✨ Your daily dose of practical wisdom on finding joy
Want more joy in your day? The advice from experts is simple: Think about the things that matter most to you and then do them more often.
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Edited and produced by Harris Sockel & Carly Rose Gillis
Questions, feedback, or story suggestions? Email us: tips@medium.com
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