Yet seriousness need not extinguish delight. Hikmet’s squirrel is quick, curious, almost playful—suggesting that earnestness can coexist with lightness. Albert Camus’s The Myth of Sisyphus (1942) similarly holds that one can face the absurd squarely and still choose joy. Likewise, Mary Oliver’s gentle directive—“Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.” (Red Bird, 2008)—translates solemn care into wonder. In this view, seriousness is the discipline that protects joy from drift; it is the structure within which surprise can arrive. [...]
