Head-dibs

Marcus Aurelius was born almost 1900 years ago today. He was one of five good Emperors to rule the Roman Empire but he left his mark in another way. Read his " Meditations " and encounter a man who never bragged on his exploits or affairs of state, but pursued wisdom and lived with intent.

You know that feeling when you catch your breath and everything returns to normal after a long and difficult experience? That's a "breathturn." Everything's going to be alright.

“The wise man will live as he ought, not as long as he can.” (Seneca) While visiting an inmate serving a robbery sentence, a visitor reported to his incarcerated friend how another man was recently arrested for robbing a house and killing the family who lived there. “You know,” the inmate said, “it's people like that who give robbery a bad name.” As Shakespeare wrote, "He hath ever but slenderly known himself." (King Lear) Awareness is a starting point to wise living, balancing the inward look with an outward look. After all, we live on a planet with other people. Problems set in when the inward or the outward look are out of balance. For example, if we worry about what others think and tailor our actions to people-please, then we lose ourselves. Or, if we become too inward focused, selfishness takes over and we get along with no-one. The outward aspect of awareness is simply proximity. "Who" is doing "what" around you?  Personal Awar...

The young man stood in the valley, craned his neck back thought to himself, "I am going to climb that mountain." Filling his canteen and with walking stick in hand he struck out, crossed the road and began his climb, one foot in front of the other. Sometimes his boot trod solid ground, or clambered over the salt-and-pepper granite. Chipmunks chattered at his passing and Marmots watched from the boulders, ready to sound the warning squeak. He wondered if he could remember where the Mountain Lion den was, so he could avoid that path. Stepping higher and higher, sliding over shale, now in sunshine, now in shade, he stopped from time to time to catch is breath. The valley began to grow beneath him and over his head, he could see the peak. "That didn't take long." He thought to himself. Icy water from his canteen revived his resolve and he struck out again, tramping and supporting every other step with his walking stick. Climbing higher and higher until at last, h...

That's right. Stop reading. Of course to find the reason why, you must keep reading. Bear with me a moment, please. Marcus Aurelius left himself a note at the beginning of his personal journal, a note to himself, that simply says, "throw away your books." Another Roman senator wrote to his friend encouraging him to stop gorging himself on books. What kind of advice is this? How is one to learn, to gain wisdom if one does not read? Is experience enough? Do we have enough resources within reach without reading? We are drowning in information and a high percentage of that information means absolutely nothing. Among other things, this very blog bears a number of posts regarding reading and I confess that I've done my part in contributing to--well, let's just say, "the pile." What do we have the ancients did not? The internet, blogs, magazines, e-zines, newspapers, and going a step further, various forms of media that include the news, entertainmen...

Perfect time to get out to Riverbanks Zoo and Botanical Gardens before the Summer heat sets in. Didn't make the Aquarium or the Penguin house this time. Some videos scattered in the mix here, so be prepared as a couple might be quite loud. Animals make noise for a reason! Golden-Lion Tamarin Ring-tailed Lemur marking territory Tree Kangroo Meerkat Meerkat and "Olipahants, Mr. Frodo!" A Friend to the Bitter End Galapagos Tortoises What's the difference between a crocodile and an alligator?  One you'll see in a while and the other you'll see later! Turtle Race, 2018. Buckle up! Hamadryas baboons  Siamang, marking territory with sound Walking on the bridge over the Saluda River Lorikeets wrestling. It's a social thing. Grizzly Bear. Watched this guy try to tear apart a tree. Flamigos

credit: blogilates "But I have been consigned, so to speak, to one special ailment. I do not know why I should call it by its Greek name; for it is well enough described as “shortness of breath.” Its attack is of very brief duration, like that of a squall at sea; it usually ends within an hour. Who indeed could breathe his last for long? I have passed through all the ills and dangers of the flesh; but nothing seems to me more troublesome than this. And naturally so; for anything else may be called illness; but this is a sort of continued 'last gasp.' Hence physicians call it 'practicing how to die.'” (Seneca, Letter 64) " . . . if I must suffer illness, I shall desire that I may do nothing which shows lack of restraint, and nothing that is unmanly. The conclusion is, not that hardships are desirable, but that virtue is desirable, which enables us patiently to endure hardships." (Seneca, Letter 67) Seneca maintains a disarming sense of humor that...

“People seek retreats for themselves in the countryside by the seashore, in the hills, and you too have made it your habit to long for that above all else. But this is altogether unphilosophical, when it is possible for you to retreat into yourself whenever you please; for nowhere can one retreat into greater peace or freedom from care than within one’s own soul, especially when a person has such things within him that he merely has to look at them to recover from that moment perfect ease of mind (and by ease of mind I mean nothing other than having one’s mind in good order). So constantly grant yourself this retreat and so renew yourself; but keep within you concise and basic precepts that will be enough, at first encounter, to cleanse you from all distress and to send you back without discontent to the life to which you will return.”  (Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.3.1)

“Make sure you’re not made ‘Emperor,’ avoid that imperial stain. It can happen to you, so keep yourself simple, good, pure, saintly, plain, a friend of justice, God- fearing, gracious, affectionate, and strong for your proper work. Fight to remain the person that philosophy [the love of wisdom] wished to make you." (Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.30) " Because I'm the (title), that's why! " is a sign that a person has lost sight of identity and purpose. Don't let success (or lack of it) influence and change your character. Pursue wisdom and make your mark on the world from the inside out.  Marcus Aurelius was hand-picked for the job of being god-among-men. He was not born into the position nor did he aspire after the title; nevertheless, his predecessor saw what he could become and Emperor he became. Marcus left the above-written note for himself as a reminder to not let it go to his head (in so many words) but to be shaped by wisdom. 

"Cleanthes could not have been the express image of Zeno, if he had merely heard his lectures; he shared in his life, saw into his hidden purposes, and watched him to see whether he lived according to his own rules. Plato, Aristotle, and the whole throng of sages who were destined to go each his different way, derived more benefit from the character than from the words of Socrates. It was not the class-room of Epicurus, but living together under the same roof, that made great men of Metrodorus, Hermarchus, and Polyaenus. Therefore I summon you, not merely that you may derive benefit, but that you may confer benefit; for we can assist each other greatly." (Seneca, Moral Letters 6 "On Sharing Knowledge") A number of years back I was challenged to find a mentor, someone with experience to guide and counsel, to train and advise me in my life's journey. I could have hired a life coach but that relationship is merely a business relationship where the other perso...

"Dreams, combat, terror, numbness or subservience--every day these things wipe out your sacred principles, whenever your mind entertains them uncritically or lets them slip in." (Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 10.9) Let nothing slip by without checking, for the old saying goes, "If the big things don't get you, the little ones will kill you." Don't let the little ones kill you, ok? As we move through a day our mind meets many uninvited guests. The difficulty is that we open the door and let the uninvited guests stay. We even sit them down and serve them dinner--something we would never do in "real life". These distractions, these influences are sly--sapping energy we should be using elsewhere. They push and pull until we find ourselves so far out in left field wondering how we wound up out there. Protect your mind, your principles by posting a Sentinel at the mind's gate. Here's how Commander Mark Divine DIRECTs mental traffic, as des...

There's the difficult way and there's the really difficult way. The Black Crest Trail is the latter--but it's the most rewarding. Culminating on the highest peak on the Eastern Sea Board, the Black Crest Trail (aka, "Death March") clambers over five peaks. That is, if one approaches from the North. We passed many hikers going the opposite direction--downhill. But for every "down" there's an "up." Scaling the first 3000 feet in the first three miles, we passed this unforgettable tree. I was caused to remember this tree when reading my dailies: " Your mind will take the shape of what you frequently holds in thought, for the human spirit is colored by such impressions ." (Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 5.16) On the trail I could not pass this tree as quickly and easily as the previous million. What forces shaped this tree? How long has it endured? One can only imagine. The truth is that the tree remains shaped,...