{"id":9298,"date":"2026-05-24T10:07:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T09:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mantramonty.com\/?p=9298"},"modified":"2026-05-24T10:12:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T09:12:17","slug":"absurdity-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mantramonty.com\/en\/absurdity-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Absurdity Day"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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An unofficial holiday with surprisingly serious roots<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Every year on Novem\u00adber 20th, a loose\u00adly observed but gen\u00aduine\u00adly felt hol\u00adi\u00adday invites peo\u00adple to set aside the ordi\u00adnary log\u00adic of their days and make room for the illog\u00adi\u00adcal, the unex\u00adpect\u00aded, and the frankly non\u00adsen\u00adsi\u00adcal. Nation\u00adal Absur\u00addi\u00adty Day is unof\u00adfi\u00adcial, unspon\u00adsored, and uncom\u00adpli\u00adcat\u00aded \u2014 which is rather the point.<\/p>

The word absurd<\/em> derives from the Latin absur\u00addus<\/em>, mean\u00ading \u201cout of tune\u201d \u2014 a def\u00adi\u00adn\u00adi\u00adtion that cap\u00adtures the spir\u00adit of the day more pre\u00adcise\u00adly than any mod\u00adern inter\u00adpre\u00adta\u00adtion might. It is not about chaos or mean\u00ading\u00adless\u00adness, but about that par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar qual\u00adi\u00adty of being slight\u00adly mis\u00adaligned with the usu\u00adal order of things. A note played in the wrong key. A hat worn at the wrong angle. A con\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adtion that cheer\u00adful\u00adly declines to arrive any\u00adwhere.<\/p>

Who celebrates it<\/h3>

In prac\u00adtice, any\u00adone who feels the occa\u00adsion\u00adal need to step out\u00adside their rou\u00adtine. Cel\u00ade\u00adbra\u00adtions tend toward the small and per\u00adson\u00adal rather than the pub\u00adlic and organ\u00adised: mis\u00admatched socks, impromp\u00adtu games with invent\u00aded rules, con\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adtions that fol\u00adlow their own log\u00adic rather than any\u00adone else\u2019s. The com\u00admon thread is a will\u00ading\u00adness to let the day be slight\u00adly dif\u00adfer\u00adent from the one before it, with\u00adout requir\u00ading a rea\u00adson.<\/p>

Why it matters<\/h3>

Absur\u00addism has a longer and more con\u00adsid\u00adered his\u00adto\u00adry than a hol\u00adi\u00adday built around sil\u00adly hats might sug\u00adgest. As a philo\u00adsoph\u00adi\u00adcal tra\u00addi\u00adtion \u2014 shaped most recog\u00adnis\u00adably by Albert Camus \u2014 it grap\u00adples with the ten\u00adsion between the human need for mean\u00ading and a uni\u00adverse that offers none on demand. The con\u00adclu\u00adsion it tends to reach is not despair but a kind of defi\u00adant light\u00adness: if mean\u00ading is not giv\u00aden, it can at least be made, or played at, or laughed about.<\/p>

There is also the more imme\u00addi\u00adate mat\u00adter of stress. Research con\u00adsis\u00adtent\u00adly sup\u00adports what most peo\u00adple already know intu\u00aditive\u00adly: humour, play, and cre\u00adative expres\u00adsion reduce anx\u00adi\u00adety and improve cog\u00adni\u00adtive flex\u00adi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty. A day with a for\u00admal excuse to be ridicu\u00adlous is, in that sense, less friv\u00ado\u00adlous than it appears.<\/p>

Nation\u00adal Absur\u00addi\u00adty Day asks very lit\u00adtle \u2014 only that, for one day in Novem\u00adber, life be per\u00admit\u00adted to make slight\u00adly less sense than usu\u00adal. Giv\u00aden how often it man\u00adages that with\u00adout any encour\u00adage\u00adment at all, this seems a rea\u00adson\u00adable request.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nation\u00adal Absur\u00addi\u00adty Day is cel\u00ade\u00adbrat\u00aded on Novem\u00adber 20th. It is an unof\u00adfi\u00adcial \u201cfun\u201d hol\u00adi\u00adday, encour\u00adag\u00ading peo\u00adple to be aware\u2014and celebrate\u2014the illog\u00adi\u00adcal and non\u00adsen\u00adsi\u00adcal aspects of every\u00adday life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9299,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[123,98,118,114],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-retro","category-365-holidays","category-ai-image-generation","category-dystopia"],"featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.mantramonty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/absurdity-day-fifties-scifi-streetscene-commuters-flying-vehicles-1600x900-1-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.mantramonty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/absurdity-day-fifties-scifi-streetscene-commuters-flying-vehicles-1600x900-1-300x169.jpg",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.mantramonty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/absurdity-day-fifties-scifi-streetscene-commuters-flying-vehicles-1600x900-1-768x432.jpg",768,432,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.mantramonty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/absurdity-day-fifties-scifi-streetscene-commuters-flying-vehicles-1600x900-1-1024x576.jpg",930,523,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.mantramonty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/absurdity-day-fifties-scifi-streetscene-commuters-flying-vehicles-1600x900-1-1536x864.jpg",1536,864,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.mantramonty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/absurdity-day-fifties-scifi-streetscene-commuters-flying-vehicles-1600x900-1.jpg",1600,900,false],"trp-custom-language-flag":["https:\/\/www.mantramonty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/absurdity-day-fifties-scifi-streetscene-commuters-flying-vehicles-1600x900-1-18x10.jpg",18,10,true],"featured":["https:\/\/www.mantramonty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/absurdity-day-fifties-scifi-streetscene-commuters-flying-vehicles-1600x900-1.jpg",1600,900,false],"featured@2x":["https:\/\/www.mantramonty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/absurdity-day-fifties-scifi-streetscene-commuters-flying-vehicles-1600x900-1.jpg",1600,900,false],"featured-small":["https:\/\/www.mantramonty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/absurdity-day-fifties-scifi-streetscene-commuters-flying-vehicles-1600x900-1-1000x563.jpg",1000,563,true],"recent-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.mantramonty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/absurdity-day-fifties-scifi-streetscene-commuters-flying-vehicles-1600x900-1-345x192.jpg",345,192,true],"recent-thumbnail-retina":["https:\/\/www.mantramonty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/absurdity-day-fifties-scifi-streetscene-commuters-flying-vehicles-1600x900-1-690x384.jpg",690,384,true],"woo-featured":["https:\/\/www.mantramonty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/absurdity-day-fifties-scifi-streetscene-commuters-flying-vehicles-1600x900-1-280x280.jpg",280,280,true],"entry-cover":["https:\/\/www.mantramonty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/absurdity-day-fifties-scifi-streetscene-commuters-flying-vehicles-1600x900-1.jpg",1600,900,false],"entry-cover@2x":["https:\/\/www.mantramonty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/absurdity-day-fifties-scifi-streetscene-commuters-flying-vehicles-1600x900-1.jpg",1600,900,false],"loop":["https:\/\/www.mantramonty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/absurdity-day-fifties-scifi-streetscene-commuters-flying-vehicles-1600x900-1-300x300.jpg",300,300,true],"loop@2x":["https:\/\/www.mantramonty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/absurdity-day-fifties-scifi-streetscene-commuters-flying-vehicles-1600x900-1-600x600.jpg",600,600,true],"portfolio-scroller-widget":["https:\/\/www.mantramonty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/absurdity-day-fifties-scifi-streetscene-commuters-flying-vehicles-1600x900-1-996x560.jpg",996,560,true],"portfolio_item-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.mantramonty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/absurdity-day-fifties-scifi-streetscene-commuters-flying-vehicles-1600x900-1.jpg",600,338,false],"portfolio_item-thumbnail@2x":["https:\/\/www.mantramonty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/absurdity-day-fifties-scifi-streetscene-commuters-flying-vehicles-1600x900-1.jpg",1200,675,false],"portfolio_item-masonry":["https:\/\/www.mantramonty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/absurdity-day-fifties-scifi-streetscene-commuters-flying-vehicles-1600x900-1.jpg",600,338,false],"portfolio_item-thumbnail_wide":["https:\/\/www.mantramonty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/absurdity-day-fifties-scifi-streetscene-commuters-flying-vehicles-1600x900-1-1600x600.jpg",1600,600,true],"portfolio_item-thumbnail_wide_cinema":["https:\/\/www.mantramonty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/absurdity-day-fifties-scifi-streetscene-commuters-flying-vehicles-1600x900-1-1600x750.jpg",1600,750,true],"portfolio_item-thumbnail_cinema":["https:\/\/www.mantramonty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/absurdity-day-fifties-scifi-streetscene-commuters-flying-vehicles-1600x900-1.jpg",596,335,false],"portfolio_item-thumbnail_portrait":["https:\/\/www.mantr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