DE Weekly: Existentialism in Everyday Life
Below is an archived email originally sent on October 26, 2026.
Existentialism in Everyday Life
A philosophy that cannot be in some way applied to everyday life, both to the overarching motivations and the minutiae alike, cannot be very useful to us at all. One thing I have tried to demonstrate in writing about Existentialism––a famously obtuse and difficult philosophy for many––is that it can, in fact, be applied in the consideration of both.
What does it mean to “apply” Existentialism in everyday life? What would it look like in practice?
If we internalize the core tenets of the philosophy, meaning that we accept the lack of a defined, universal purpose in life, we understand our radical freedom and we accept our total responsibility to make choices, and we take it upon ourselves to act in good faith with the Other, we are doing exactly that: applying the philosophy in everyday life.
To work meaningfully toward the creation of a meaningful existence, aiming to keep all of the above in mind is a good place to orient oneself.
Of course, philosophy can always seem a bit abstract; Existentialism is certainly no exception. Crack the pages of one of its books and you can see what I mean.
But, beneath the verbosity of many of its authors, there lies a definite applicability of the ideas. That’s why, over the last two years and change, I’ve ventured to include a whole array of examples and draw from them to relate them in some way to Existentialism.
I’ve written about various films, television shows, books, both fiction and nonfiction, music, poetry, essays, thought experiments, and even ideas from my own head that got me thinking.
All of this was to share insights about what I found most interesting from the people I had great interest in: Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Søren Kierkegaard, and many more.
What got me started on the path of exploring the writings of these types of people in the first place was probably something shared in common among those attracted to Existentialism: a questioning of identity, of my place in the world, and a deep sense of wanting to know the proper way to respond to such feelings.
Over the course of time, years removed from reading some of these works such as Camus’s The Stranger or Sartre’s Being and Nothingness for the first time, I feel I have a keener sense of understanding about them.
So, to answer the question from the top, “How do I apply Existentialism in everyday life?”, the answer, it seems to me, includes, but is not limited to, the following:
Be authentic. Do not play at being something you are not; instead, try and embody the true Self that you are as a unique being-in-the-world.
Reject bad faith. Live in good faith with the Other and try and practice it in relation with others.
Do not give up in the face of feelings such as absurdity and meaninglessness. Rather, rebel against them and realize that there is real meaning to be found.
And now a note…
Two weeks ago, I made an announcement in the postscript that I would be shifting the newsletter to biweekly, interrupting the weekly cadence I had kept on for over two years.
Today, I’m announcing that this is the last instance of the DE Weekly newsletter as you know it.
I have had an incredible time and derived much enjoyment from writing so much about Existentialism over the last two years. I feel it is time to shift my focus into expanding the breadth of my writing to include other interests and topics.
All of my writing from the DE Weekly newsletter can be found archived here: https://www.thedailyexistentialist.com/email-archives
And all of the related social media can be found here: https://x.com/TheDailyExist
I thank all of my readers for subscribing and reading every week. I’ve received some nice notes and I’ve been happy to share a common interest with others.
The next time you hear from me will likely be pointing you to any new writing venture I conjure up, when I decide what that will be.
Until next time.
Thanks for reading.
Sincerely,
Brandon J. Seltenrich
P.S.––
Thank you.
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