Stoicism

Regard it more as a way of life than as a philosophy -- one that provides the steady gaze required especially in this chaotically-hyped age. In fact, most every age has been marked by change, including 3rd century BC Athens, where the movement originated. Stoicism is as simple as it is profound i.e. focus not on the illusion we can control external events but rather on how we choose to respond. 

Lest one thinks of it in terms of passivity, no less a figure than Marcus Aurelius, the emperor of the Roman Empire from 161-180 AD, embraced stoicism to guide him as he planned military campaigns. Stoicism likewise served to inspire Epictetus, a former slave, as he founded his own school where he taught many of Rome's greatest minds. The words and works of Aurelius, Epictetus, and Seneca have imparted a certain wisdom for the ages, from Frederick the Great, to essayist Montaigne, to economist Adam Smith, to our founding fathers (see what-is-stoicism). As such, perhaps it's worthy of our attention today.

Our club community represents the ideal environment in which to witness, discuss, and acknowledge the "spiritual exercises" practiced by the stoics. Following is a distillation of (with some additional commentary on) these stoic exercises:      

Practice Misfortune: Seneca advised of the need to prepare for misfortune, most of all during the good times; the underlying point is that comfort is the worst kind of slavery in that it engenders the fear of its loss; don't just envision the prospect of misfortune but practice it and, in so doing, overcome such fear which can be worse than the reality; some members of the club years ago practiced this by living on the streets of Denver with nothing (no money; no ID) other than the clothes on their back and a sleeping bag -- they experienced (and survived) panhandling from the other side.

Train Perception to Avoid Good and Bad: Aurelius maintained that harm is but a perception and its power comes from a choice to be so afflicted; to the Stoic, the obstacle represents opportunity -- a guest participant in our MM discussion on "Envy" noted that even that negative emotion invites the exploration of the shadow side; we previously explored a related point ("Good/Bad . . We'll See" 06-10-19.)

Remember -- It's All Ephemeral:  Aurelius observed that both Alexander the Great and his mule driver died and the same thing happened to both; his observation underscores the transitory nature of life, a key leveling perspective on how small we are (MM, "Get Over Thyself" 08-27-18 ); it is the key to humility and to the Stoic's prompt to overcome "passion" (meant at the time to refer to irrational, unhealthy, and excessive desires and emotions); what matters is the "right now"; Alexander the Who?

Take the View From Above:  Aurelius would often practice "Plato's view" by zooming out to provide a higher vantage point from which to evaluate one's judgments and to better appreciate interdependency; a good (more contemporary) visual example would be the space photograph  "Earthrise"; some may recall a late 90s movie depicting the entire panoply of life dynamics, from love to hate to jealousy to invading armies to natural disasters, only to find at the very end (as the camera zooms out to reveal) that the whole (animated) story of Antz takes place in a small plot in the middle of Central Park, NYC.

Meditate On Your Mortality: Stoics Aurelius, Seneca, Epictetus each meditated on mortality -- presented, not as some depressive injunction, but as an invigorating, humbling, ever-present reminder to live a life of virtue in the now; Montaigne was fond of an ancient drinking game in which members toasted one another next to the picture of a corpse as a reminder this was their inevitable fate; the exercise is one antidote to excessive desire.

Is This Within My Control:  The question goes beyond the well-known Serenity prayer and is central to stoicism; look not to uncontrollable externals for good and evil but rather to oneself and one's own choices.

Journal: Writer Ann Morrow (wife of Charles Lindbergh) probably best tapped into a stoic truth when she wrote,"Writing is more than living, for it is being conscious of living"; the art of the journal, more than a simple diary, is fundamental to constant self-examination; Aurelius wrote twelve books, apparently without any intention of their publication, later simply labeled simply as "Meditations."

Practice Negative Visualization: The Stoics (Seneca) psychologically prepared for any endeavor by reviewing or rehearsing all the things that could go wrong, figuring "nothing happens to the wise man against his expectations"; they saw the exercise as the best preparation for disruption thereby fitting the Self for both defeat or victory; a good contemporary example of this stoic exercise is Jeff Bezos' proclamation that "Amazon is not too big to fail . . . in fact, I predict one day Amazon will go bankrupt".

Love Everything That Happens: Most fundamental of all is the abiding love of fate, "the wish that what happens happened the way it happened and that way you will be happy"; treat each and every moment -- no matter how challenging -- as something to be embraced; obstacles and adversity become fuel for your potential.

All the above is easier said than done, of course. Regard the precepts as aspirational. Let us  open our awareness to those instances in ourselves and in others reflecting the stoic mindset. Think of Highland itself as born of this very philosophy.