Head-dibs

"Beasts avoid the dangers which they see, and when they have escaped them are free from care; but we men torment ourselves over that which is to come as well as over that which is past. Many of our blessings bring bane to us; for memory recalls the tortures of fear, while foresight anticipates them. The present alone can make no man wretched." (Seneca, Letters, 5 "On The Philosopher's Mean") Our minds are busy. Most of what occupies our minds are out of our control, matters that lie in the past or have yet to occur in the future. If those things were not bothersome enough, we also manage to be distracted by shiny things, with small things that really don't matter, things that keep us from what is most important. Animals have sense enough to flee from harm and man is no animal. So why do we create traps only to knowingly step into them? By focusing on what's already gone or on what has yet to come, we lose the blessings of the present. Worry is th...

"You are not your body and hair style but your capacity for choosing well. If your choices are beautiful, so too will you be." (Epictetus, Discourses 3.1.39b-40) Another translation reads,  "for you are not flesh and hair, but you are will; and if your will beautiful, then you will be beautiful." Or as one person put it, "you are more than a selfie" when you chose wisely.

“ When asked where he was from, he said 'I am a world-citizen.' ” (ἐρωτηθεὶς πόθεν εἴη, “κοσμοπολίτης,” ἔφη. Diogenes Laertius, 6.63, on Diogenes the Cynic, 4th Century BCE) “ Have I done something for the common good? Then I share in the benefits .” (Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 11.4) I've been all "eyes and ears" the last few hours as I delve into a new life experience that could easily carry on through the entire week. And I am ready to learn.  At first all I could hear from others were groans and complaints from others who have done this already, but I've also gathered plenty of good advice so I've been prepared. Truthfully, there is a side of this experience that no person should ever have to endure--it's hard, to be sure; however, due to the consequences of human nature run amok and the function of law, the task is necessary.  Jury Duty seems like a heavy burden and an inconvenience and an imposition to the citizenship of oth...

"It is impossible for a person to begin to learn what he thinks he already knows." (Epictetus) Seems we all know that one person who thinks he or she knows everything. The one person who can't be told anything because they seem to already know. A trait mostly found in teenagers, only some never grow out of it. One night we were discussing a movie when a certain person chirped, "Oh, yeah. Seen it a bunch of times already. I know all about it." We looked at each other and wondered out loud, "how? It hasn't even been released yet?" The response? "Well, I just have." That kind of person. There are two kinds of ignorance: there is one who is not-knowing (ἀγνοεῖς--"agnoia"  or "the agnostic") and the one who is not-learning (ἀμαθίᾳ--"amathia"). Here is our person, the know-it-all. The mind that endangers itself. We might better understand if we divide the not-learning ("ignorant," as it wer...

"Whenever you find yourself blaming providence, turn it around in your mind and you will see that what has happened is in keeping with reason." (Epictetus, Discourses 3.17) Ryan Holiday explains this perfectly. "Part of the reason we fight against the things that happen is that we're so focused on our plan that we forget that there might be a bigger plan we don't know about . . . . We also forget that we're not the only people who matter and that our loss might be someone else's gain." I am learning not to get upset when things don't go my way. How about you? Epictetus teaches that there's a "reason" at work, far beyond ours. Yes, we should make plans but we should also be flexible for we simply do not understand enough of all things to make plans perfectly. Don't miss this though: Epictetus did not come up with this principle out of the blue. Reason led him to it. We know this because the same principle surfaces in ot...

Are you alive? How do you know? Don't think too hard about it. Some would rather let life pass them by, with no proof they have lived except for old age. They eat, sleep, wake up and fear dying before going back to bed again. That's it. Why are we here? To live.  And what is life? Life is both a gift and a project, a journey, if you will. We either self-preserve (which is a low view) or pursue all that is good, virtue --just the way God made everything, pronouncing it "good" (the high view). So it comes down to a choice:  "Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day;  You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way . . .  And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking;  Racing around to come up behind you again. The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older Shorter of breath and one day closer to death" (Pink Floyd, " Time ") OR (as Longfellow says, " Let us, then, be up...

"Of all the loaded words in Stoic philosophy, 'indifferent' is one of the most provocative. Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus each tell us that the Stoic is indifferent to external things, indifferent to wealth, indifferent to pain, indifferent to winning, indifferent to hope and dreams and everything else. You hear it enough times and it starts to sound like these people don’t care about anything. Especially since the modern definition of the word means precisely that. But this is a dangerous misreading. The Stoics were not indifferent in that sense at all, it’s that they were good either way. It’s not that they didn’t care, it’s that they were good either way. Does that make sense?" Please read the rest here . 

Here's one of the greatest magic tricks I've ever witnessed-. Recently at the Oscars, Actor Matthew McConaughey presented the award for film editing, reminding us (in so many words) that movies are an illusion. We like to be fooled, to be entertained. Appropriately, The Academy thanked the people who go to to movies, keeping them in the business of making illusions. Why? Because we'll believe anything, as long as it makes us feel good. Do you trust your eyes? We over-trust our eyes, which is why the illusion works. The simplest distraction, the smallest deception occurs and we go spiraling off on a tangent. Do you trust your feelings? Are they accurate? About mid-afternoon many folks start get grouchy. But why? Mars, Incorporated has figured it out. Folks aren't grouchy. They are "hangry" and Mars has connected the Snickers candy bar with that feeling to sell their product. Some folks just need a snack and they profit by connecting a message to a fe...

“Above all, it is necessary for a person to have a true self-estimate, for we commonly think we can do more than we really can.” – Seneca, On Tranquility of Mind, 5.2 When you look inside, what do you see? Who do you see?  What times stand out in your life where you surprisingly succeeded or miserably failed?  When did you do more than was expected or bite off more than you can chew?  Nearly every day at noon I do one thing that makes me say, "what did I just get myself in to?"  One of my training partners invariably and succinctly says, "well that sucked." But you know, that one thing serves to remind me to check myself--what is realistic? Every time I am confident I can do it and every time (nearly) I reach a point when I think I can't do any more but when I reach that line, I step over and before long it's done. I train because it's hard.  I train because harder things happen in real life.  So how do you start your day? Do you take...

A.k.a "The Chemists' Drinking Song" Scientist and Sci-Fi writer Isaac Asimov (one of my favorite authors) suggested in a 1963 essay entitled "You, too, can speak Gaelic" suggested that "para-Dimethylaminobenzaldehyde" can be pronounced to the tune of the familiar jig "The Irish Washerwoman." Yes, the musician/scientist in me enjoyed this very much--hope you do too. (ht: Futility Closet)

"[B]e silent for the most part, or else make only the most necessary remarks, and express these in few words. But rarely, and when occasion requires you to talk, talk, indeed . . . In your conversation avoid making mention at great length and excessively of your own deeds or dangers, because it is not as pleasant for others to hear about your adventures, as it is for you to call to mind your own dangers." (Epictetus, Enchiridion, 33.2,14) Great advice. Story-telling hijacks a conversation; Too many words exhaust the listener; A rambler is boring, annoying; Story-telling is selfish, self-gratifying; The more one talks, opportunity for exaggeration increases; What may have started as "sharing"in conversation becomes a performance. 

''True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.'' (Seneca)

A man I once knew often said to take a "Gomer Pyle" view of the world, to keep eyes and ears open for things that should make us say "gollllll-ly". Get fascinated with the world and life! This is a moment that happened while I was working in the yard today. In case you didn't know. Consider using headphones or earbuds to hear this well.

Think this one over for a while. If you have a journal, interact with your thoughts on the matter. If you don't have a journal, perhaps consider starting one! "R emember to act always as if you were at a symposium. When the food or drink comes around, reach out and take some politely; if it passes you by don't try pulling it back. And if it has not reached you yet, don't let your desire run ahead of you, be patient until your turn comes. Adopt a similar attitude with regard to children, wife, wealth and status, and in time, you will be entitled to dine with the gods. Go further and decline these goods even when they are on offer and you will have a share in the gods' power as well as their company. That is how Diogenes, Heraclitus and philosophers like them came to be called, and considered, divine.'' (Epictetus, Discourses)

"Sixty miles from the Arctic Circle in Lulea, Sweden, musicians performed songs inside an igloo using instruments sculpted from ice." (Wall Street Journal)

"No man can have a peaceful life who thinks too much about lengthening it, or believes that living through many consulships is a great blessing. Rehearse this thought every day: that you may be able to depart from life contentedly; for many men clutch and cling to life, even as those who are carried down a rushing stream clutch and cling to briars and sharp rocks. Most men ebb and flow in wretchedness between the fear of death and the hardships of life; they are unwilling to live, and yet they do not know how to die. For this reason, make life as a whole agreeable to yourself by banishing all worry about it." (Seneca, Letter 4 "On The Terrors of Death") Here is one truth concerning death: it arrives.  Unexpectedly for the most part, but death arrives.  And what happens once death arrives? We seem to have an inkling of life, but what of death? If we exhaust our days wasting life (a kind of un-living) then dread and despair should be expected, for no amoun...