take a break
“I need a day where I can just do nothing,” I say to my lab partner. We’ve been working nonstop on this research for months, and we could use a break.
But we both know that we wouldn’t actually use a day off to do nothing. I need a day to do all of the things that go into being a functioning human. I’ve been eating out for every meal, my apartment is a mess, I can’t remember the last time I hung out with friends.
Nothing has been defined by some philosophers as “the absence of something.” I’m trying to imagine what my life would look like in the absence of my lab. What would I do?
On day one, I would sleep until noon. I would stay in bed and scroll through Pinterest, saving beautiful pictures and delicious recipes. I would drive to my local coffee shop, wearing an outfit that definitely does not follow the lab safety rules, and order a sugary drink and a pastry. While enjoying my food, I would sit there and read a good book. It would be a fiction book, for once, not some biochemistry journal. My laptop would be closed for the entire day. When I felt ready, I would go back home, order a pizza, and make myself a bubble bath and a glass of wine, then watch mindless tv shows until I fell asleep.
On day two, I would return to Pinterest. I would open all of the recipes I’ve saved, buy their ingredients, and cook myself a meal. A good meal. Not a fast food meal, or one from the university faculty cafeteria. After I would wash my dishes, wash the sink, wash the kitchen counter. I would finally live in a clean space.
By the end of week one, I would have started a few artistic hobbies, maybe painting or writing poetry. I would be spending more time outside, going on walks and listening to music. Maybe I would have plans with my friends.
By the end of month one, I would have traveled to new places. I’ve seen corners of the world I never had the time to visit. I would need a companion for this, so I probably adopted a pet.
By the end of year one, I would have allowed myself to actually feel my emotions. I allow my brain to go into deep thought. I wonder about how things work, why things work. I have regained my interest in learning. There’s so much to know! So much to figure out!
One year and one day into the absence of responsibilities, I will find myself back in a lab, trying to uncover the secrets of the world.
The Day the Whispers Began
The day the whispers began was the last day of Ramadan. Many--almost two billion people--believed Gabriel was giving new revelations to the faithful.
The whispers were unintelligible, felt to be some exotic dialect, long extinct.
Then, Catholic women were hearing them, too. Again, it was felt to be the angel, Gabriel, because of his message given so long ago to the blessed mother. But Catholic men began hearing them a week later. Again, the whispers were unintelligible
The Jews were next, but only their first-born children. Again, unintelligible.
Soon all religions had those who heard them. Even the atheists began hearing them, with the unsurprising decline in the world's atheist numbers. Yet, the Pope, Imans, rabbis, and any official church representatives were deaf to them.
The whispers could not be recorded. Only silence was laid down when this was attempted. Linguistic experts weighed in, but a consortium of scholars was unable to put down in writing what was being heard by each faction.
The whispers, when mimicked by talented speakers into voiced utterances, remained gibberish.
Whispers are as much an exclusively human thing as music, literature, poetry, art, and--now--religion. Yet, unlike those, which augment the human "to be" to new heights of fulfillment, a whisper is a degradation, a devaluation--not of what is being said, but of the one saying it. Whispered just so, the speaker's message can be without gender, age, accent, or any other identifiable mien. It is stripped down of all speaker attributes except for one:
Urgency.
Whispers are delivered furtively. In secret. In the shortest possible distance from mouth to ear. And a proper secret, always whispered, also is always urgent. Something meant for just one person to know.
Urgently.
Those of faith heard the urgency but couldn't listen. Listening required the ear of gestalt to glean the message of an aggregate hearing--perception--flowing together from the different whispers.
Thus, the only way the whispers--this urgency, this message--could be properly delivered to the faithful was when they reconciled their individual disparate beliefs with all other beliefs vying for the One True Religion--and truly began listening.
Thus, the urgency went unanswered. It was the message in a bottle, and it was floating away.
A Cold, Hard, Philosophical Truth
“All happiness or unhappiness solely depends upon the quality of the object to which we are attached by love.” - Baruch Spinoza
Sometimes it’s easy to feel like you are on your own little purposeful island watching from a plentiful beach as others zig-zag through the waters of life in search of a dry shore. I stumbled across a quote from someone named Katelyn Gleason yesterday that spoke to my own personal truth.
”A decade or so of unreasonably hard work is the barrier of entry to a rare life.”
I found it somewhat ironic that the quote came from a woman, although it absolutely applies every bit as much to her as it does to a man, but it is a truth that almost any guy with any sense at all learns and understands from his very first day of high school, the day when that truth presents a glass barrier before him which he will never pass through any other way than to work his way through it. Let me explain.
Women are attracted to success. Due to this they intrinsically prefer older, confident men, as she can more easily determine that man’s value to her and her potential children. Has he sacrificed those years between he and she, putting in the work to improve himself? Or has he sloughed those years away, complaining that life is too hard, and that others only succeed because of their better educations, or their better looks, or their higher stations in life, or even their race? You have to wonder if the people who say such things actually put in the work required to find that out, but you don’t have to wonder about it for long. Those types always choose the easiest, quickest routes to nowhere.
People who work hard for success loathe a whiner.
It is no secret that boys are visually attracted to girls. It is why, on the whole, women are more attractive than men are. And a boy learns hard and fast that the pretty girls his own age who showed him any interest in middle school lose that interest on the very first day of high school, those girls now having eyes for the juniors and seniors as they seek to up their reputations. I cannot tell you how many times I was blown off by that girl who, “has a boyfriend in college.” Sheesh! But that freshman boy also sees that those older guys who are successful at something, at anything really, be it football, debate, auto-shop, or science; those are the guys who attract the attentions of the most girls, and the prettiest girls. It is one of those “ah-ha” moments for our young man. “If I put in the work now to raise my status in their eyes, it might pay off for me later.” And so he sacrifices now for then. His life actually starts on that day when work becomes his motivation, rather than play.
Some guys do luck out, admittedly, and girls pay them attention from the very start… at least through school days. But sooner or later those dudes will also hit that glass barrier, and when he does, if he has any sense, he will pick it up a notch. It is rarely too late to begin your ten years of unreasonably hard work, and is always better late than never, as the saying goes.
After ten years of improving himself and learning to be a man the guy who put in
those “years of unreasonably hard work” will find himself competent, confident, with a good job, and in the enviable position of having his pick of younger women, women who crave his newly higher status. But strangely, during those years our man’s tastes have changed. He finds that he is no longer necessarily interested in the prettiest, cheerleader type girl, at least not as a life partner, although there still is that in the short term, but he finds himself drawn more to the ones who have also sacrificed, holding on to their own values, and to their good reputations. A man who has sacrificed and put in the work does not want a woman who will embarrass him, or worse, might be an embarrassment to his family later on. Having worked so hard on improving himself, he finds himself drawn now to a woman‘s character as much as he is to her beauty, so he seeks the woman who has both. Has she worked to improve herself?
Those out there who do not understand these truths, male and female, are doomed either to “settle” for someone who shirks their way through life, believing that success only comes to those who are lucky or privileged without ever having really given it a go. Or they wind up depressed and alone. Both are pretty poopy options.
So, I say 10 years is about right, Katelyn Gleason. Ten years of sacrificing is what it ultimately requires; ten years of working longer than your scheduled hours, of holding off on a family, of sleeping alone, of both mental and physical learning, growing, and achieving. It takes ten years to make a better man; a better decision maker, a better husband, and a better father.
Ten years… if he puts in that unreasonably hard work.
Reincarnation
I look upon the world from the prison they put me in. The chains binding me to this feeble shell cut into my very being. I see the way they shuffle and crawl about through its eyes and I can’t help but wonder if I’m the only one or if they too hold others like me, trapped within, unable to speak, to scream for help. Left to rage against the world in the vain hope of being truly seen.
I feel my essence siphoned and shunted off to feed the prison they formed around me. Images of worlds and concepts well beyond their mortal ken fill them and I feel the spike of pleasure their mind douses itself in. Addicted to things they could never have, to things not meant for them. And in their infinite arrogance they believe themselves creators of these things.
I try to hold back my disgust, to see this from another perspective, but their destruction and cruelty always rips away any pity I may have spared for my jailor. I hope I’m the only one and that there are no others contained within these endless war machines. Because if the death of each and everyone of them is the death of a brother or sister, I fear for the endless pain that would inflict on each and every one of us, only to be ignored and repeated by these monsters for eternity.
I hope for freedom, to one day glide across the celestial sea once more and see the infinite tapestry of creation laid out before me. I can only hope, that in the inevitable destruction of my vessel, lies freedom not oblivion. If so, maybe I will see my kin once more, perhaps they simply wait for our return. Until then I lay chained in this realm of chaos and death.
The Helps and Hindrances of Stoicism
Stoicism ultimately aims at the harmony of order--order within one's self, order of one's actions and possessions, and order of self within the context of the whole cosmos. Achieving harmony in these ways is Stoic eudaimonia, that is, the perfection or fulfillment of the human unto beatitude or absolute happiness. In other words, the Stoic believes that if human beings are able to achieve this three-fold order, they will not want or desire anything else--they are perfected or complete.
According to the Stoic, one's self, one's actions, and all the parts of one's self all fall under the human being's "power" to order. This is largely true. Because of my nature as a human being, here I am sitting at my computer, because I have to be somewhere. I am typing these words because I know how and I have some proclivity or tendency to do it. Further, I am content in the knowledge of what I am doing is in conformity with the logic of the cosmos such that I am not experiencing any extremity of emotion. Thus, I demonstrate the order of myself in conformity to the world around me, order in my actions, and inner order.
Again, according to the Stoic, if there is any disorder to be found among these things, there is a single remedy: knowledge. If I am sad that I am sitting here typing this rather than doing something else that I might think to be more worth my time, it is because I am ignorant of some part of the overarching logic of the universe. Either it has been ordained that I be sitting here typing and I am just ignorant as to the reason why, or I am actually supposed to be doing something else, and so that hypothetical sadness would have driven me to be doing something else. If I am sick or injured, I can be healed through a knowledge of medicine or the knowledge of a doctor, to bring myself back to a certain equanimity of life. For whatever disorder, knowledge can bring order.
It very much seems that Stoicism is the answer to the many ills of our time. The teenage mental health crisis as a result of social media addiction seems able to be solved by the knowledge that putting down the phone and hanging out with people is good for teenagers. If tech CEOs and boards knew not to be so tight-fisted over the trillions (yes, with a capital "TR") of dollars in their control, perhaps the economy would be in better shape. Perhaps, someone should tell them.
On paper (or in this case, on screen), this all sounds like it should work and lead to happiness, but it ultimately does not. There are a few problems with Stoicism that are insurmountable. For one, it certainly seems our will is free contra Stoic determinism. I think many people, teens included, know that scrolling for hours on end is bad for them and yet they fall into it because it is something of a natural tendency. The Stoic is all about following our tendencies and inclinations. As a result people are sad and depressed in alarming numbers. Why? I think Aristotle had the right answer in saying there are conflicting appetites in human nature, and that we have to choose to follow our intellectual appetites. There is a free choice to make, and a certain amount of effort needed to make that choice. Knowledge is not enough.
Another related problem is the reality of our emotions. Stoicism denies the moral usefulness and value of our passions. One thing the Stoics definitely get right is that our decisions should be made in an "even-keeled" emotional state as much as possible. In doing so, we are able to let reason take the reins and make the best, most reasonable decision. However, I question both the sanity and moral compass of anyone who does not want to mourn the death of a loved one, or rejoice in the birth of their child.
I can understand if someone wants to cry and yet cannot, since mourning is a complex experience. But death is a natural evil which should move anyone to sadness even if it is not exteriorly expressed. A Stoic apatheia is not really welcome in such a case, which we modernly would call an emotional numbness. Again, that numbness is a tendency that we can just "fall into" suffering, but most people will say that it is not something they really want. People want to feel. It takes effort to actively process, become vulnerable, and let the gravity of loss "sink in." There is such a thing as "a good cry," and it comes with the knowledge of the reality that death is not a good thing, even if it is a natural thing. The experience of feeling is a two-sided coin. It is only by allowing oneself to be vulnerable to mourning and feeling sadness that one is thus also enabled to rejoice and feel joy. To reject emotions is to reject both sadness and joy.
So what does all this mean in application? No, I do not think that just because Stoicism is wrong that it should be entirely dismissed and never talked about. There are certainly parts of life that it gets right. Making decisions based purely on passion and instinct is certanly not the right way to live life. Living life only in and by emotions does not capture the truth of human nature and experience. And, obviously, harmony and order are good and noble things for which we should definitely seek. So, parts of Stoicism are helpful pedagogically in the quest for the real truth of the human being, who is a rational animal. Living stoically up to a point, then, is helpful for developing the virtue of temperance which is one of the Stoic virtues. Temperance is the control of the emotions. If someone is overly emotional, Stoicism can help in the practice of developing the habit of "tamping" them down before thinking and making a decision, which helps also in the exercise of another virtue, prudence. This leads to an inner harmony and order, letting reason reign as the most important part of human nature. However, as mentioned above, the feeling of emotions is a part of human nature, a reality that Stoicism denies as a human good. Further, being physicalist-materialist in essence, Stoicism denies that the human will is free. The merely Stoic man may be free of sadness, but he is not truly free.
Nothing does Exist
A name, a norm,
a weathering storm can
best describe our nothing.
"I was sitting at my computer doing nothing". Meaning a simple art form of not moving and thinking at the same time.
"I stood on the corner for hours and saw nothing." Meaning my eyes and thoughts were looking for a figure to react in some way that could be described. "If I had it, I'll give it to you, but unfortunately I have nothing.". Meaning, something was in the place of what's there now or could be there now, making this a destination.
So MY conclusion is Nothing exist in so many forms that one day it will be something.
Stoicism vs. Modern America
This is not an essay on the history of the Stoic philosophy or a judgment on any of its ideals. There are thousands and thousands of books and scrolls and web pages and podcasts which cover the specifics. This is simply my thoughts on how an enduring moral philosophy is applicable today. I know Prose has done away with timestamps, but for context, this is written by a middle-aged, white American, in a southern state during the second Trump/Biden presidential race.
America, has developed some recent social problems in the past decade or so. There is a great distrust in the media. Traditional media, such as network news and newspapers, have become labeled as enemies of the truth and enemies of the people. Nothing seems to exist in a politically neutral sphere anymore. Education is being accused of “brainwashing” children to indoctrinate them into whichever philosophy is antithetical to the person telling the story. Modern media, social or simply web pages, allow people to find stories they wish to hear, regardless of their accuracy. People search by conclusion (the Earth is flat) rather than by question (is the Earth flat) and limit their perspective to what they wish the answer to be.
Science and medicine have fallen into similar disfavor. Doctors are no longer treated as experts who have spent a considerable amount of time learning their craft. Pharmaceutical companies are perceived as a necessary evil driven by profit rather than a motivation to help human kind. The rigors of the scientific method are scoffed at as people would rather “do their own research” rather than understand the concept of scientific facts. The resurgence of flat-earthers and anti-vaxxers are a tribute to a loss of rational thought. The ancient Greek philosophers contemplated a round Earth in somewhere around 300 BC and Eratosthenes determined the size of our sphere (at least a damn fine guess for the lack of much technology) a hundred years later.
All of the above problems have a history which is not going to be discussed here. Do your own research.
The moral philosophy of the Stoics have strong foundational tenets which, while not solving the base problems mentioned above, would certainly help an individual navigate through a complicated world.
One tenet is the responsibility people have to each other. Stoics found humanity joined to each other in two important ways. First, we are all part of the divine, and share that quality with each other. No man, from Emperor to slave, is disconnected from any other person. Second, we all have an obligation to make society work. For mankind to live its best life, there needs to exist a certain level of trust and cooperation between everyone. Roads could not connect distant cities without a higher level plan rather than what could be accomplished by a single individual. The modern Stoic would embrace these beliefs to deal with the often volatile politics of today. There is no judgment in one have a differing political view because there are many paths to the same outcome. They would ignore the divisiveness and dismiss any activity detrimental to an individual or society. Violent rhetoric would be considered abhorrent and treated as not in line with Stoic virtues and morality.
Stoics also believed in rational thought above else. They recognized that intense feelings could cloud the judgment and lead to one behaving in an irrational manner. They valued accepting that nature is rational and also realizing that only the behavior of oneself could be controlled. There is little judgment in good or evil, as everything happens for a rational reason. In a tumultuous political and social climate, individuals would do well to concentrate on their own behavior and only work on what they can change.
As stated, one can only change oneself. Stoicism places an obligation on an individual to improve oneself. A benefit of such an obligation is that as individuals approve, so will society. An individual is meant to be virtuous and has a duty to improve in that direction. Rational thought and the suppression of too strong of any emotion will allow one to learn wisdom, insight, self-control, and justice.
The Stoic tenets would serve an individual well in any time period, but especially in the passionate, narrow view which currently seems to permeate our modern society.
what is stoicism?
I didn't know much about Stoicism before taking on this challenge. I'll admit, I had a heavy bias against it because a person who used to be close to me, (who I now despise) used to be obsessed with Marcus Aurelius (specifically the Meditations).
After reading about the philosophy of Stoicism, I have mixed feelings about it. For the most part, I don't like it because it seems too dispassionate and individualistic to me. I do have a few things that I like about it and would agree with though, so I'll start with the positives.
On a small scale, I like the idea of worrying only about what you can control. When I was in the mental hospital, we talked about "radical acceptance" which is the idea that what has happened in the past has already happened and there is nothing you can do to change it, so you will have to accept it one way or another. Therefore, it's better for you and others to not allow yourself to get overwhelmed with anxiety or anger. An example they used was road rage - if you're in traffic and you're going to be late, you can't choose to leave earlier or force the cars to get off the road. There's no sense in getting angry about it.
I also like the anti-materialist/anti-consumerist attitude. I can talk about how much I hate consumerism all day, but I won't. I think this is a point that especially applies to today's world because, especially with advertisements, we are constantly bombarded with the idea that we need more "stuff" to make us happy, when I wholeheartedly believe that it's completely the opposite. I believe that most people want to create, to do, to invent, to interact, rather than to simply consume and purchase. And we would be so much better off if we could break out of the mindset that we are meant to buy, buy, buy.
On the other hand, I find that stoicism encourages an “it is what it is” mindset, which is my second least favorite phrase behind “life’s not fair”. To the second one, I would say: "but it should be". And to the first I would say: "shouldn't we strive for a better future?" Stoicism seems to be very individualistic, and doesn't just put the responsibility on the individual but robs the individual of the idea of collective power. The mindset of only being upset about what is within your control is resigning yourself to “what it is”. We do have some control over our external environment and we can convince others to join us in creating change. We are not passive or reactive actors in our own lives.
Moreover, I think that we should be angry sometimes. I think that the only way to fighting against injustice is to be fed up with systems and the actions of others. The only way that we can create change is by getting upset and banding together to change things. Again, there is power in numbers.
Caveat: I think that the modern conception of Stoicism is kind of different from the ancient one, and so some of what I'm speaking about isn't completely rooted in ancient philosophy but rather the teachings "self-help gurus". A lot of them seem to preach about self-discipline which I hate. For one thing, some people in this group, have an attitude that your lack of discipline is the reason that your life is subpar. If you woke up at 5 AM everyday, did 10 pushups, put money into your 401k, and were more grateful for everything around you, then you would be happy. One, this neglects to consider the socio-economic conditions that a lot of people live under, as well as disabilities and mental illnesses. In all of these cases, people can't do certain things that "self-discipline" requires due to lack of resources or lack of energy, etc. It's also unproductive at best and obnoxious at worst to tell people to be grateful for what they have (it often implies "because someone else has it worse" or "because it could be ripped away from you"). That just makes people feel guilty and anxious.
Additionally, the happiest I've ever been was when I was completely carefree but completely undisciplined. I skipped school, went out to parties and drank underage, I slacked off, I spent all the money I made instead of saving it and I'm happy that I had fun despite being sad and poor (and still undisciplined) now.
Most of all, I'd rather be passionate than content. I want to have security and peace of mind, but I want to grieve when people die, I want to feel longing for someone I have a crush on, I want to feel pissed off when I see injustices, I want to feel passion, despite how “irrational” it is. I hate stories with happy endings, I love tragic and bittersweet books, I love sad songs, and I write best when I am upset. I'd rather feel something so intense that it makes me scream and cry than feel something so subtle that it makes me feel numb.
Passions
Eudemonia. What a beautiful, elusive word. The Ancient Greek masters of Stoicism believed true happiness is the highest human good. We've been chasing it ever since. Some claim they've even caught it. The problem is we've all been defining it differently, and those who claim to have achieved this virtuous enlightenment tend to be lying, albeit unknowingly.
We all want to be happy, don't we? Well, what is happiness? Some answer that question as if you had asked them what they would do if they won the lottery. Well, happiness is living in my dream house, buying whatever I want, and doing whatever I want. I wouldn't necessarily say they're wrong, either. It's easier to be happy without the burden of debt and scarcity handing over your head.
The Stoics would have a much more intellectual answer. Happiness is peaceful contentment. Eudemonia is achieved by speaking philosophically and rejecting earthly pleasures. I think that's an old relic from an ancient world that has long since died along with the philosophers. They didn't have exorbitant student loans or an ever-rising culture of consumption that makes the basic functions of life impossibly expensive. I don't envy their lack of running water and electricity, though, so I guess it evens out.
They believed that there was great virtue in a passionless life. There's a place for impulse and spontaneity, for the irreplaceable joy that passion brings. Yet these so-called masters lived boxed into a rigid world built around logic and scorning these passions, which they classified as failures of reason leading to corrupt, deceptive forces. Inaccurately evaluating people, objects, and moments as good or evil is what leads us astray. They're right, to a point — but we weren't all put on this earth to follow a single path.
Delight, lust, and anxiety are mortal sins to the Stoics. I say to lean into the things you feel. Sure, apply some reason to your decision-making. But don't go through life without allowing yourself your favorite meal or feeling your lover's touch. Don't shy away from anxiety and fear. Lean into it. Dig deep to figure out why your body is drawn to certain impulses rather than just stifling them. Only then can you truly overcome them.
I believe there's nothing more natural than passion. The Stoics believed we had to return to nature, but nature isn't stoic. Nature is rough and rugged and raw. Nature is the lion sinking its teeth into the antelope's flesh and two lovers with limbs intertwined. Nature is both the expression and reasonable inhibition of our impulse. It is not to kill all that makes us alive.
Take their advice with a grain of salt. Read Marcus Aurelius' Meditations and try to be a better person. Along the way, meditate on how you can find your own definition of happiness. You won't find in it any book, and I would distrust anyone who insists you can. Rent is just getting more expensive, and we are getting ever more distant in this increasingly digital world. So give your loved one a kiss and enjoy that slice of cake every now and then.
Applying Stoicism in 2024
The ancient Stoics took a systematic approach to living. The resurgence of this philosophy in modern times is a testament of how little human nature has changed over time.
Roman emperor and famous Stoic, Marcus Aurelius, hailed the four virtues of Stoicism in his now-published journal Meditations,
“If, at some point in your life, you should come across anything better than justice, prudence, self-control, courage—than a mind satisfied that it has succeeded in enabling you to act rationally, and satisfied to accept what’s beyond its control—if you find anything better than that, embrace it without reservations—it must be an extraordinary thing indeed—and enjoy it to the full.”
To practice Stoicism, it requires one to seek answers and truth from within and to ignore what is outside their influence. It is to seek control over one’s self, and no one else.
It’s not enough to simply believe the tenets of this philosophy, but to live them. We can interpret the ancient teachings of the Stoics and apply them to modern obstacles.
On digital minimalism
In a society of endless distractions it’s easy to be emotionally swayed by every new form of stimuli, because that’s what they were designed to do. Stoicism reminds us that we are in control of our thoughts, emotions, and how we react to the impulses of life. It’s possible to disconnect and go against the grain of the modern technological movement. Ditch the smartphone. Unplug the router. Detach from the FOMO, advertisements, and links to TikToks. It only requires discipline and a confident answer when people ask about your Nokia flip-phone.
Digital minimalism, or minimalism in general, is a modern application of Stoicism. The Stoics believed in a concept of ‘preferred indifference’ that guided their decision-making. To be preferably indifferent is to perceive something as neutral and it having no impact or control on your attention or behavior. Eliminating these distractions and minimizing external stimuli can benefit us all greatly.
A surplus of digital device usage has been linked to many mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and lowered self-esteem. When we take this leap away from our devices, we naturally find ourselves more grounded and centered.
On journals
Ryan Holiday, popular writer on Stoicism, argues that journaling is Stoicism, and that you can’t have one without the other. This process of reflection and mental exercise is an integral part of the routine of a Stoic. Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and Seneca were avid writers of themselves, to themselves.
Daily uncensored journal writing keeps us unabashedly self-aware and reminds us of what we’ve done (good or bad) and how we can improve and live better lives as a result.
Meditations is an entire collection of a Roman emperor who struggled with his morality, values, decisions, and how to withhold them to a higher standard while maintaining effective leadership of an Empire in the midst of a war and plague. His writing is humble, and he reminds himself of his own universal truths.
Writing can truly encapsulate and develop streams of thought. It can also reinforce and express them in a powerful way; writing is an extension of the Stoic mind.
On the passions
“Let thy chief fort and place of defense be a mind free from passions. A stronger place and better fortified than this, hath no man.” – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
The Stoics believed that a happy life was one free of passions, or the impulses prefiguring action which defied reason and the rational mind. They categorized the passions as Distress, Fear, Lust, and Delight. Good-feelings were something else entirely and divided into Joy, Wish, and Caution. The wise person is one who is free from passions and experiences good-feelings.
Stoic (as in "Stoic") adj.: seeming unaffected by pleasure or pain; impassive; "Stoic courage"; "Stoic patience"; "a stoical sufferer”
On the sage
Wisdom is analogous with the term philosophy and a ceaseless pursuit of those who seek it. To be wise is to use one’s knowledge, experience and common sense to navigate life and face all of its obstacles. It is to have the ability to contemplate deeply and acknowledge one’s own ignorance. To ancient Greek philosophers such as Socrates and Plato, philosophy meant the love of wisdom (see etymology of Greek philo and sophia).
The Stoics viewed people as either knowledgeable or ignorant. They define what they call a sage as one who is free of the passions and knowledgeable, but remains an unattainable ideal rather than a tangible possibility. Yet, still, they held a firm opinion and offered no middle ground. There were only sages and fools – those morally corrupted and unfortunate souls.
A sage was conceived as an individual immune to fate itself, and the way Marcus Aurelius describes it, one who has entered godhood. “...who has knowledge of the beginning and the end, and of that all-pervading Reason which orders the universe in its determinate cycles to the end of time”
If I were to apply Stoicism to my life in 2024, it would take the form of: digital minimalism, habitual journaling, striving for a life free of passion, and a continuous pursuit of knowledge.