“The universe henceforth without a master seems to him [Sisyphus] 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 towards the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy” (Camus 123).
These famous, controversial words conclude one of the greatest philosophical works of all time: The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus. Despite being written long before our modern understanding of climate science and climate change came into being, can the ideas of Absurdism answer some of the great questions of climate anxiety which are poised in A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety by Sarah Jaquette Ray? I would argue so. In fact, I would argue that Absurdism provides the penultimate insight to the problem of climate anxiety which our generation is, against our will, facing down.
We are facing the greatest threat that mankind has ever faced and we are failing to meet the challenge with the strength and resolve that it demands. That has left this generation, my generation, to face the threat alone. Yet, as Ray puts so eloquently, “The key to happiness is not pleasure of the absence of discomfort but a sense of purpose” (Ray 28). This idea is central to confronting climate change as a whole, as a collection of people resolute in our dedication to meeting this crisis and overcoming it. After all, how can we confront such a momentous moment without a sense of purpose driving us forward and reminding us of why we are fighting in the first place? This is the question of this moment. This is the question that we must solve to move forward.
With the projected change in global temperatures rising and instances of severe weather patterns increasing year and year, we must ask ourselves what we are fighting for. Because each hurricane and each fallen acre of forest seems to weigh us down a little more. Each legislature defeat feels like our boulder falling back down to the bottom of the hill, just so we can pick it back up and continue on in the struggle. Each time that we fail, our resolve in our missions slips away a little more. However, this is where the idea of finding our purpose comes in. Without it, we will surely collapse under the weight of our burden. Something which we cannot afford to do.
So, what is the answer? How do we find this sense of purpose? Once again, we are brought back to the work of Ray to find the answer to this question. She makes the claim that “Climate wisdom is the understanding that our ability to respond to climate change and work on climate issues is shaped more by our emotional selves than our rational selves” (Ray 30). I couldn’t agree more with this idea. If we forget our emotions, leaving them by the wayside in our fight against climate change, then we are doomed to fail no matter how logical we are. After all, it is logical for everyone to fight for climate change. Yet we see that not everyone does. What is the difference between those who do and those who do not? Passion. Desire. Anger. It is precisely our emotions that make us different and that motivates us towards the radical activism which is needed in this moment.
Yet, we must also not let our emotions take control of us. That is when people make the more dire, drastic mistakes, and this is not a time for making mistakes. Therefore, we must harness our emotions, our resolve, into a calm rage. This may seem like a contradictory idea. Yet, I assure you that it is not. Rather than bursts of rage, which surely burn out as quickly as they burn hot, we must measure our rage and allow it to be a slow, constant fire which burns in our bellies. A fire which fuels our desire for justice, for the environment, and for each other.
This is where our role as the Sisyphean Generation comes into play. We must be like Sisyphus pushing the rock up the hill each and every day. We cannot put all of our energy into pushing it up the first time, because it is sure to fall back down at some point in the future. And then where will we be? At the bottom of the hill, bereft of energy and desire which we need to push the boulder up once more. This is something we cannot afford. Each time the boulder falls, each time that we lose a battle or pass a critical point, we cannot stop and allow the boulder to sit helplessly at the bottom of the hill again. It is for this very reason that we have to measure out our rage at the injustice of climate change. It is for this reason that we must allow it to burn slowly so that it can motivate us each and every day as we face this crisis.
We are the Sisyphean Generation. We are going to be forced to push that boulder up the hill more times that I can possibly count during my lifetime alone, and it is never going to stop. This is not something that will end, but a new part of our world. We are the Sisyphean Generation. We will continue to push the boulder up the hill, and we will survive. So go, push your boulder, and find the same joy in it that we must imagine that Sisyphus himself feels in his task.

Sources:
Camus, Albert. The Myth of Sisyphus. Translated by Justin O’Brien, Vintage International, 2018.
Ray, Sarah Jaquette. A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety How to Keep Your Cool on A Warming Planet. University of California Press, 2020.

Shared by: Ethan Rummage
Image Credit: Antonio Marín Segovia