THE ROOT 9: 8.2

Unpacking the Unexpected Wisdom of the Myth of Sisyphus

If you know me well, you know I’m a serial Googler. Whether I’m chatting to someone 1:1, at a dinner, or in a work meeting, there is a high likelihood I’m amassing a queue of Google search tabs to remind myself of something we talked about so I can revisit it later (It's not that I'm not listening, I promise!)

This week, my curiosity was initially sparked at our office coffee bar. The song playing as I waited in the queue to order caught my ear, so naturally, I Shazam-ed it. "Sisyphus" by Andrew Bird. You may have noticed the sometimes-quirky visuals that accompany tracks on Spotify…I love them. The one for "Sisyphus" was pretty funky (snipped below). It made me wonder what the significance of Sisyphus was and here we are.

The Myth of Sisyphus

Sisyphus is a king from Greek mythology, renowned as one of the most clever individuals alive. Unfortunately, this morphed into hubris. His hubris led him to commit what was perhaps the ultimate sin in the eyes of the Greek gods: believing he could outsmart them. He escaped death twice which increasingly angered the Gods:

Finally, for his repeated defiance of the natural order, the gods devised an inescapable punishment: an eternity spent rolling a massive boulder up a hill, only to have it roll back down each time he neared the top. So he starts over, and over, and over, for eternity. This endless, futile labor became his eternal torment.

Ok…so what?

As I did more digging, I found that the one of Albert Camus’ most notable works is his interpretation Sisyphus's punishment as an allegory of the human condition in "The Myth of Sisyphus."

Camus suggests that our search for meaning in a potentially indifferent universe mirrors the endless task. Yet, he puts (what I interpret, at least) as a uniquely positive spin on this story…Even if our daily struggles seem repetitive and absurd, we imbue them with value by embracing them. Camus suggests we must imagine Sisyphus finding happiness in his struggle, because, even without inherent universal meaning, the meaning of life is what we create. This is tied to one of the core messages of Frankl’s Man’s Search For Meaning: The meaning of life is to give life meaning.

So, even when the weight of your world feels like that relentless boulder, remember that:

Water Consumption: Why Mornings Matters

Okay, this isn’t really anything revolutionary (to say the least) but a huge focus of mine for the last 32 days (via 75 Hard) has been water consumption. There have been days where I’ve been super on top of it and days where I have to chug half a gallon at 10 pm (and that's not fun for anyone).

The one thing I have incorporated into my routine to make sure I avoid chugging a bunch of water before bed has been bringing my water bottle with me to the gym and consciously drinking it throughout my lift first thing in the morning - always aiming to finish at least one water bottle.

I know this may sound insane, but I never brought water to the gym before doing 75 Hard this go around - I found it annoying to carry (lol).

I had always read about the benefits of having water first thing in the morning and I’ve personally noticed the benefits throughout my day when I prioritize water consumption at 6 / 7 am.

My personal experience aside, we all tend to lose water weight as we sleep (there is a reason people weigh themselves first thing in the morning vs. at night). The amount we lose varies based on a person's body temperature when sleeping, their salt intake (higher salt intake leads your body to hold onto water), your basal metabolic rate (BMR), and breathing patterns. So rehydrating first thing in the morning naturally ‘wakes’ your body up faster, allowing you to:

It’s no secret I have historically tended to address the feeling of being ‘tired’ or ‘not alert’ with drinking more caffeine vs. being acutely aware I’m just dehydrated. I also am not saying that post 75 Hard I will continue drinking a gallon a day (for many reasons, but I do find it can get fairly distracting both to your sleep and day-to-day life at times).

But, I do think this practice as part of 75 Hard has led me to see the value in the continuous “drink water first thing in the morning!” statement I always hear being preached.

I typically work out with a hat on. But recently, when I run outside with a hat I’ve found that the way I tighten my hats can cause some uncomfortable pressure that persists throughout my runs.

The alternative of a simple ponytail leaves me dealing with annoying baby hairs which I dislike more than the pressure from a hat, and unfortunately, most tight headbands that tame baby hairs apply even more uncomfortable pressure (though the only exception I swear by are Smart Wool Merino Wool Thermal Headbands which I wrote about a couple weeks back).

So, I've been loving the simple solution of slicking back my ponytail with a hair wax stick recently. This surprisingly affordable option has become my go-to for taming fly aways during runs, and I've even started using it for a sleeked-back look at work and when going out because I liked it so much for my workouts. Here’s what I use: