Caldwell teacher: There are invincible summers within us (2024)

Brent Tomberlin

“In the midst of winter, there was within me, an invincible summer.”

Albert Camus is a writer often associated with the French existential literary philosophy. He wrote many essays, a few novels and plays. He is one of the youngest writers to win the Nobel Peace Prize for literature and died tragically in a car crash a few years after. His work is prized by many and often quoted. The above is one of his most-quoted sayings.

Camus argues life is meant to be lived and to be lived fully. According to one author, his childhood in Algiers is always on his mind in his writings. Camus grew up in a poor household with a father who died during World War I and a mother who basically lost her ability to speak upon hearing about the death of her husband.

Poverty became a mainstay of his family life. Yet, he writes widely about the love he and his mother shared. Even amidst poverty, living in a sagging structure, and trying to communicate with a deaf and virtually mute mother, Camus speaks of her life, and his, being filled.

In his essay, “Return to Tipasa,” he writes the line regarding the invincible summer. He has returned to the beaches of his youth and is reflecting on his experiences there. Here, he merges history and memory. He sees the structures once built and frequented by the Romans. He remembers childhood. In another essay, he speaks about his memories of poverty, “[it] kept me from thinking that all was well under the sun and in history.” There is an element of choosing in much of his writing.

The message of the quote contains truths for all to inquire of. In it, Camus is speaking of both hope and despair. While, in the midst of situations, it can become easy to lose hope, there is never a reason to fully and continuously despair. Camus uses the memories of his poor childhood and takes the good from a suspected lack of hope. He notes the love of his grandmother and mother were simply bulwarks for him amid the poor conditions. He remembers the beaches and the neighborhoods which taught him tough lessons. Camus’s life acts out writer Mark Manson’s statement: What happens to us may not be our fault, but it is our responsibility.

As each of us age, whether we agree with it or not, there is the actualization of how childhood experiences shape our lives. Claiming childhood, that is acknowledging that things happened, is a healthy endeavor.

Moreover, coming to know the patterns and rhythms of our mind and body are very important in order to put the black dog of despair and struggle into its proper place. This is certainly not always easy, but understanding the origins of the emotional roller coasters in our lives can help change outcomes in our present.

Camus’s quote simply calls for action. He asks that we not let our circ*mstances ultimately determine our outcome. It is an appeal to strength and for individuals to turn towards the light of the sun instead of focusing on the hints of darkness. It is a call to allow the constant inertias of life to spring each of us forward. No doubt that many of Camus’s writings have survived the test of time because they encourage against the black hole of despair in life.

The invincible summer lies inside each of us as we choose the memories and the metaphors which provide hope, or resilience, and keep pushing us against desperation. Each of us need these markers of strength and perseverance in our lives for when the darker moments come, the light can be there.

For Camus, the invincible summer is always in reach. The memories which make one who they are can be immeasurably helpful in putting up a fair resistance against the forces, man-made and elsewhere, which butt up against one’s positive reality.

There are always tugs of war in life. Sometimes the pull is emotional and sometimes it is physical. There are always battles to face.

Camus’s sense of history looking at the Roman ruins in Algiers was a constant reminder of this truth. His remembrances of growing up in poverty reminded him not to use those conditions as a crutch, but to use the good from those experiences to lead him on. For Camus, as for the rest of us, it was never about where someone comes from or out of, but where he or she gets to. That sort of reasoning can help others. Reading Camus helped Robert Kennedy find some meaning in the assassination of his brother. Grabbing some meaning out of tragedy helped him to not fully despair. Camus’s writings challenged Kennedy to be a better man, and he became so in the year he ran for the democratic presidential nomination. Yet, we all have those fundamental moments in life where we choose to head in one direction instead of another and found some success and understanding.

Some individuals see hope as something to get toward while others simply have the sun inside them and are constantly ready to share it with others. As we enter the summer season and come out of winter, remember that there are invincible summers within us. They provide meaning and comfort to keep us from succumbing to the storms of life.