Word, The First:
The first word is "oiesis" which is difficult to translate from Greek to English. 500 years before Christ, Heraclitus used a form of the word to describe the kind of self thinking, self talk that leads to false thinking, self-deception. Much later, the word was generalized to include the idea of "false conception" in general. The Stoics pointed out how "oiesis" is responsible for up-ended lives, chaos. We like to use the word "dysfunction." Or we could call it what it is: "stinkin' thinkin'"
“Let all your efforts be directed to something, let it keep that end in view. It’s not activity that disturbs people, but false conceptions of things that drive them mad.” —Seneca
Word, The Second:
This year I have a word that I will keep ever before me, a word that gives direction.
This word keeps truth in the eye and ear.
This word marks the boundaries of what can and cannot be done.
This word enables willfully acceptance of what is outside my control.
This word points the way in what to do, what not to do.
This word reveals that to which one can say "yes" and "no".
This word stops me from hurting myself or others and brings healing. No rational being wants to harm themselves or anyone else.
This word empowers action that brings good.
This word will say when I've had enough or if I've reached a goal.
This word will show when I'm on track, because if I'm not doing it . . . well, the answer is found in the first word, isn't it?
You know my second word. It's been made into a joke--but it's bedrock when you think about it.
The word is μένω ("meno") and it simply means "abide" or "remain."
It means to be present. To continue. To last. To endure.
It means "not depart."
It means to remain whole and not become something, or someone else.
It means "to wait."
Breathe.
At the end of the day I am learning to ask myself, "Did The Dude Abide?" and I run try to run down my list, note where I've failed and make a plan to try again. That's what my journal is for this year.
Told you it sounds like a joke--but entertain the idea for a few--how much aggression do we bring to our own lives by becoming slaves to habit, to feeling? By "oiesis"?
