Only a few possess a gift for artistic creation, though we can all endeavor to create. Our struggle with COVID-19 presents a unique opportunity for creative spirits to draw on a now-heightened awareness of human finitude and fragility. Existentialists of the twentieth century confronted a devastated Germany and France where uncertainty passed through all facets of human existence, and to no surprise, a penetrating body of work emerged. It was Friedrich Nietzsche and Albert Camus who taught me how to face up to personal and social tragedy, something they knew intimately and described fervidly through literary and philosophical works. Today I often find myself turning to Camus and Nietzsche in my work with patients, as I continue my own reflection on their teachings. Seeking an end to uncertainties surrounding the pandemic is perhaps a natural inclination. I suspect creative spirits around the world may be better off coming to know uncertainty as the very fabric of existence (after all, it always has been); in this way we might stand a chance to create works of substance and beauty during this precarious moment in time.
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