Absurdity, Angst, Meaning, and Us

Absurdity creeps in through routine; angst follows. This essay explores how meaning-making becomes our quiet rebellion against the void

Absurdity cracks the foundation on which we stand; angst is the burden to fill the crack.

Arun Kumar

Summary: This essay explores the quiet intrusion of absurdity into everyday life and its emotional counterpart, existential angst. It traces how these experiences prompt a profound human response: an urge for creation of meaning.

Sometime in the middle of going through the motions of living — perhaps while brushing teeth and looking at our face in the mirror or lying awake in the wee hours of morning thinking about the day ahead — there comes an awkward moment. A pause. A quiet rupture in the random meanderings of our ever-shifting mind. The thought arises, unbidden yet disturbing: This all feels so absurd.

It is not a dramatic revelation, nor a philosophical awakening. It is quieter than that. It is a whisper in the mind. The absurd does not announce itself with grandeur; it creeps in through the cracks in the routine; through the repetition of days that feel both full and yet hollow (or shall we say, absurd). Getting out of bed suddenly becomes a Sisyphean struggle — not because the body is weary, but because the spirit questions the very point of the climb.

Absurdity, in its essence, is a rupture, a dissonance between what we expect and what reality offers. We expect coherence. We long for a narrative, a purpose that threads through our days. We want our lives to matter, not just to ourselves but to something larger, something cosmic. Yet the universe, vast and indifferent, offers none. It spins on, unbothered by our yearnings.

If there were a designer, and if that designer had a teleological blueprint for the cosmos, we might gladly align our lives with that trajectory. We would shape our days to serve that purpose, and to contribute to the grand design. But in the absence of such a design, we are left to navigate on our own. The stone we push uphill each day does not roll back because of failure; it rolls back because when we arrive at the summit, there is nothing waiting there. Discouraged, we let the stone go.

And so, the absurd settles in.

From Absurdity to Existential Angst

The recognition of our absurd predicament gives rise to existential angst.

Absurdity and existential angst are distinct yet intimately connected facets of the human condition. Absurdity is an outcome of a structural dissonance. It is not an emotional state but a philosophical recognition of a rupture between expectation and reality.

Existential angst is the emotional response to absurdity. It is not a fear tethered to any specific threat, but a diffuse and silent dread — an unease that arises when we confront the burden of choice, the imperative to act, and the necessity of self-definition in a world devoid of predetermined meaning. Angst is the psychological weight of autonomy: the discomfort that surfaces when we wonder whether we are truly up to the task of shaping our life without guidance or a manual. It is starting a journey unaccompanied by a map. [Angst: A feeling of deep anxiety or dread, typically an unfocused one about human condition or the state of the world in general.]

The connection between the two is often sequential. Absurdity is the recognition of meaninglessness first; angst that follows is the emotional consequence of having to create meaning ourselves. Absurdity cracks the foundation; angst is the burden to fill the crack and but not knowing if we are up for the task.

The Consequence: A Call to Create

The most profound consequence of absurdity, followed by existential angst, is not paralysis, but an urge to create meaning and purpose. When the universe offers no inherent purpose, we are left with the task — and the freedom — of crafting our own.

Why are we driven to create meaning? It is not merely a challenge for its own sake. The act of meaning-making is profoundly practical. Meaning and purpose serve as the scaffolding of daily life — they orient our actions, animate our routines, and transmute drudgery into rituals of comfort. In their presence, even the mundane could acquire dignity.

To have purpose is to know why we rise in the morning. It is to put a spring in our step. It is what turns effort into engagement, and repetition into a ritual. Purpose does not eliminate absurdity, but it offers a response and a way to live with it.

Meaning also offers resilience. In the face of suffering, uncertainty, and loss, if they were to occur (which they do), it provides a compass. It allows us to endure because we are anchored to something.

Other Gifts of Meaning

Beyond guiding action and lifting the spirit, meaning offers other gifts:

• Continuity: It threads our past, present, and future into a coherent narrative.
• Identity: It helps us define who we are, not just what we do.
• Joy: It transforms moments into memories, tasks into periods of flow.
• Agency: It reminds us that we are not passive observers, but active participants in our own lives.

Meaning is necessary for a joyful life. Without it, life becomes a series of disconnected events. With it, life becomes a story.

Human Response to Absurdity

And thus, absurdity is not a flaw but a feature of the human condition. In response to dissonance, humanity has devised several ways to cope, one being the act of creating meaning and purpose through our own efforts. But this is only one pathway. It would be instructive to explore the other responses humanity has fashioned — some defiant, some consoling — as we continue our inquiry into how we live with the absurd. That exploration begins next.

Ciao, and thanks for reading.