Life is full of contradictions, demands and silence.

We want life to make sense. We want the certainty, meaning and comfort that arrives when purpose is neatly tied to outcome.

Instead, we meet absurdity, the quiet confrontation between our deep longing for clarity and a world that offers none.

For some, this is where faith begins, where they find a reason to persist in defiance of the unknown. It is not a quick fix, nor an emotional high, but rather the slow and painful practice of believing when belief feels impossible.

But modern life leaves little room for this kind of labour. Instead, we are offered fear.

Fear of being left behind, of not doing enough, of losing everything.

Modern life does not make us feel secure, but keeps us competing and striving, as we exhaust ourselves chasing a sense of safety that never comes. Happiness, it would appear, is not a goal, or if it is, a destination that is unattainable. Always just beyond our reach.

In this landscape, absurdity becomes more than a philosophical idea, but rather a daily reality. Plans falter, systems fail, and people leave. And still, we are expected to keep going.

So, what then?

Some would suggest we simply let go. Not of life, but of the illusion that life must make sense.

Instead, we should stop chasing cosmic explanations and begin the harder, nobler work of creating meaning in small moments and finding joy where we can.

In laughter that arrives suddenly.

In beauty that catches us off guard.

In love that persists despite everything.

Freedom comes when we stop solving life like a puzzle and start living it as a mystery. Sometimes, the mystery vanishes, requiring the quiet acceptance that there was never a puzzle, question or riddle in need of an answer.

There is no map and no finish line, only the path we are on.

As Kierkegaard wrote, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.”

While we might never see answers ahead, we might begin to notice patterns in the past. Not meaning handed down from above, but meaning slowly crafted by our understanding of the lived experience.

Absurdity does not offer closure, but it does offer something else: the chance to live freely, tenderly and on our terms.