January 9
REASONS FOR LIVING, REASONS FOR DYING
Theme: Lucidity
"I see many people die because they judge that life is not worth living. I see others paradoxically getting killed for the ideas or illusions that give them a reason for living (what is called a reason for living is also an excellent reason for dying). I therefore conclude that the meaning of life is the most urgent of questions." — Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus
Camus identifies a disturbing paradox. We assume that having a reason to live protects us, that purpose is always life-giving. But look closer. Throughout history, the very things that gave people meaning have also led them to slaughter and be slaughtered. Nations, ideologies, religions, honor. Each has filled lives with significance and graveyards with bodies.
The person who dies for a cause and the person who dies from emptiness are not opposites. They are two faces of the same failure to see clearly. One has too little meaning; the other has too much of the wrong kind. The zealot and the nihilist both end up dead, one by absence, the other by excess.
This is why lucidity matters so urgently. Not all purposes are equal. Some reasons for living expand your world, deepen your connections, draw you further into existence. Others quietly demand that you sacrifice existence itself on their altar. The difference is not always obvious. Illusions often feel more compelling than truths. They offer certainty, belonging, a role in some grand story.
The task is to find what makes life worth living without making life worth losing.
Today, examine what gives your life meaning. Does it draw you deeper into living, or does it whisper that something matters more than your being here at all?