As a senior in high school, I was chosen to direct a one-act play. Being the troubled introvert I am, I chose Jean-Paul Sartre‘s No Exit; a play about three people locked in a room together in hell for eternity. Sounds like high school! Throughout the play the walls would come in closer and closer until the three characters were jammed together in a stuffy, congested space. “Hell is other people” indeed.

Reading about Existentialism gives me peace when I am in the throes of mental anguish; discerning the meaning of life can be very tumultuous for your brain. The Existentialists say that we create the meaning of life through our actions, and through free will we create the authentic life we want. The philosophy makes me feel a little less out of control.

photo taken at Boreas Pass, Colorado