my problem with the Absurd is the tendency to live an aimless, hedonistic and meaningless life. When we are free of doctrine, we can choose our own meaning. And to have a fulfilling life, one must find meaning. We can do this as we self-reflect and determine our own values, our own moral code. I find meaning in being the best version of myself that I can be. I would describe myself as a Stoic Atheist.

The biggest thing for me to come to terms with was my own mortality. All of the bullshit religions try to make you believe you have forever to get it right. You don't. You have until you die. Once you realize that, every day becomes so much more important. The Golden Rule becomes about the only thing that matters (and of course part of that is kindness, thoughtfulness, compassion...). Leaving behind children and things that will make you remembered is the key.

I went through some of this also but finally learned that life is not all about you. It might seem that way coz you only live inside your head, but it is OK to admit that you do not know something. I found that once you accept we do not know everything you actually have peace of mind. Of course, you are still dealing with those who think differently on a daily basis but they can be safely ignored.

"When you discover that life is just a joke, all you can do is make sure that it is a good one"
Kenneth Williams (1926- 1988 )
Wit, raconteur, comedian, writer and actor

I live with and embrace uncertainty. That is the inevitable and permanent state in which we find ourselves---until and IF science ever answers the rest of man's eternal questions.
That seems unlikely, not for me, not in this lifetime.
Absurdity is convincing yourself some religion or secular ideology has already solved life's riddles. Or that atheism does.
All such convictions are futile. And that's just the pure, unvarnished truth.

We all have to find our own meaning, understanding that any "meaning" one comes up with is an ever-changing myth.

I have read The Outsider by Albert Camus. Meursault, the main character is essentially no different from Antoine Roquentin in Sartre's La Nausea. Both suffer from over active imaginations that are expressed in their deeply held morose thoughts about the world. Their excessive analysis feeds upon itself and through endless repetition of patterns of thought they convince themselves of the absurdity of existence.

Given that we are on a planet that is spinning at approximately 1000MPH, orbiting a sun at 90 miles a second on an outer spiral arm of the Milky Way Galaxy and that most of the galaxies seem to be flying apart at 270 miles per second in no discernible direction, I wouldn't lose any sleep over the matter.

Does the universe have a direction or goal towards which it is headed and does it have a meaning or purpose or is that something we imagine or feel that we need to impose upon it the better to mentally compartmentalize it?

Could we achieve a reasonable degree of certainty within the realm of human relationships without keeping agreements and without abandoning the zero-sum game that we have all been conditioned in since childhood, I doubt it.

You have been searching high and low I say.

Hello and welcome, enjoy the site. You will find there are a lot of us Absurd Atheists here, but not mostly through philosophical choice.

I've never believed in the idea of being at 'peace.' People at so called peace are locked into a false kind of certainly, I find. (Religious people often talk the peace their 'faith' gives them.) I don't believe in certainty. I think we have to accept the chaos, not indulge in false peace, based on what, false certainties? A mind in flux is a mind still being challenged. That's healthy. If you read Camus you'll know his Outsider proclaimed that certainties, other than death, are not worth a single hair on a woman's head.

Welcome to the site and if that's what makes you happy be well with it. for myself I don't feel I need a label wouldn't stick anyhow.

Love it

Absurdist this month, surrealist art next. Go for it.

Thank you. Absurdism looks promising. I am going to learn a lot more about it.
[en.wikipedia.org]

Hmmmm, seems to me that unless you have something to believe on, you won't be at peace. Why not just be at peace precisely because you just don't believe in bullshit?

Nihilism may be true but I'd like to pretend my life means something. Maybe when it's all said and done it won't matter if I ever existed but it matters now. If Camus is right, I have one question. Why even bother reading his work?

Glad to meet you . I am a Pessimistic Atheist. I am pessimistic about our survival as a species.
Not too sure we should either.