What do you think when you hear the word existentialism? You probably tie it to the common phrase: existential crisis. And an existential crisis carries with it a pessimistic meaning of not knowing oneself, or even worse, the idea of never being able to know oneself. Surely, those who study existentialism are miserable people, pursuing a study of miserablism.
However, Simone de Beauvoir was keen on dispelling these accusations. No, existentialists are not miserable people. The claim in existentialism is not that you are fated to be miserable and suffer forever. Whereas popular wisdom states people inherently deserve to be happy and are who they are, existentialism states people do indeed live in an absurd world BUT they are the “unique and sovereign master” of their own destinies if they choose to be so.
In other words, existentialism is a sort of mentor–that wise old friend. An existential crisis should not be a crisis, per se, but rather an awakening to an important, life-changing, eye-opening conversation to be had in life…with yourself. “Yes, I live in this strange world, but now how do I go about and conquer my destiny?” Well, that’s where existentialism comes in. Rather than being there to bring you down and kick you in the face with misery, existentialism finds a way to let you reach your full potential as a human being surrounded by absurdity. Fear not; upwards and onwards with existentialism, says Beauvoir.
