I spend a lot of time in my head, just thinking about absurd things and wondering how we can improve the world as it is today. Philosophy has interested me for a good while now and after I had read The Rebel, an essay by Albert Camus, an essay topic started to form in my head. Originally, I was committed to writing a small zine with little research involved—just a fun little exploratory project for myself. But I quickly found myself reading more essays and comparing each with the last and all of a sudden this zine had evolved far beyond the scope I was initially working towards. I had no other drive for this project than pure personal passion. I wanted to make a cool thing, so I did.
At first, I was just going to cite and reference The Rebel, but as I read, the web of ideas causally expanded further into existentialist thought and its applications in our contemporary lives. So I picked up more books and did more research until I had a good outline. From the onset, I wanted to cater the theme and pacing of the content with songs that I would later compile. It's a small detail in the piece, but it helped stage out a greater narrative and drove engagement throughout. In total, I had 4 complete drafts and help from several of my friends and family in reviewing the writing. After all that was finalized, I took to designing the book and social media promos for my personal Instagram and Facebook accounts.
I wasn't sure I would be able to commit to starting this project, let alone actually finishing something that I was proud of. I still irrationally downplay this achievement, but 20,000 words is, really, nothing to shrug at... Introspectively, I learned a lot from this project—not just that I could commit to and complete a large undertaking by myself—but most of all, I realized I had something I was truly passionate about (this time, definitely in a Kierkegaardian sense 😋). Now, I can't yet make it out—in the bitter fog of the unknown and yet-to-happen—but I do know which direction to head to get a better look.
The Essential Catalyst is an essay I wrote during the latter half of 2021, endeavoring to question the lack of compassion evident in our busy modern lives and, if we truly want to live better lives, what can be done about it? In taking heavy inspiration from Albert Camus in his essay on human nature and rebellion, sufficiently titled The Rebel, I attempt to argue that our lives, though inherently absurd, are each individually meaningful and that, if our goal is truly to work towards human solidarity—peace, in whatever form that happens to take—then an equal consideration into the lives of all beings is to be made. The ultimate contingency here is indeed the point of question though. Where is the limit and how can we address its practicality in our own lives? If capitalism is so subsuming, how can we possibly elicit change when it seems as if nothing we do is capable of impacting real, positive change in our communities? If these are questions you’d like to explore, give this essay a chance and reflect on where your limit is drawn in the inevitably eroding sands of time.
