#707 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Monday July 17)
Good morning,
I have been sharing for some time the merits of a life based upon stoicism. Stoicism is NOT an indifferent acceptance of what is, or an emotionless response to the world around us. Rather, it is living a life in tune with what is around us, particularly in the natural world. It is an acceptance of our responsibilities but also an acceptance of our limitations. It deals with today and seeks to minimize the anxiety associated with tomorrow. Life is in the living.
Oxford Languages describes stoicism as: “The school taught that virtue, the highest good, is based on knowledge; the wise live in harmony with the divine Reason (also identified with Fate and Providence) that governs nature, and are indifferent to the vicissitudes of fortune and to pleasure and pain.”
The following words of the Roman philosopher Seneca, from the first century C.E. reflect some of the basic tenets of stoicism:
Let us prepare our minds as if we’d come to the very end of life. Let us postpone nothing. Let us balance life’s books each day.—Seneca
We suffer more in the imagination than in reality –Seneca
These quotations speak to several key notions (the fourth is my addition; another tenet of stoicism):
1. Each day must be lived to the fullest, as if each day should be our last
2. We should regularly reexamine ourselves, our successes and our shortcomings every day and set out anew the next day
3. Worry accomplishes nothing. We imagine how bad things might be, only to burn energy needlessly, as reality rarely is as bad as what our anxiety leads us to dread
4. Words mean little unless accompanied by actions (i.e., do as I do, not as I say)
Epictetus, a fellow stoic, notes that we are the masters of our own destiny and that life in the here and now:
Philosophy does not promise to secure anything external for man, otherwise it would be admitting something that lies beyond its proper subject-matter. For as the material of the carpenter is wood, and that of statuary bronze, so the subject-matter of the art of living is each person's own life. –Epictetus
Some other conclusions reached from stoicism:
1. We can/should change what we can for the better.
2. We should live our lives in tune with nature.
3. We are the masters (or creators) of our own destiny.
4. We shouldn’t blame our surroundings or situations for our circumstance, but take personal agency.
5. We shouldn’t assume something beyond this life.
6. We should live each day to the fullest.
7. We should live lives of virtue.
More on stoicism another day. But for a daily dose, Mark Eshman suggests the blog The Daily Stoic, which is a free subscription.
Have a great day,
Glenn