To Myself: A place to record thoughts, ideas and musings about Stoic philosophy and the nature of the world around me.
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Making peace with Death
I have long dreaded reading Seneca beyond his Letters. I felt that Seneca was a hypocrite who reveled in the fortune he had made as a statesman while lecturing his fellow citizens on virtue. A shallow view grounded in my own unwillingness to commit to reading deeper than a 15 minute skim would allow. That […]
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The Stoic Perspective on Happiness: Uncovering True Joy in Life
Happiness, a state of being that humans have sought throughout the ages, remains an elusive concept for many. In a world consumed by materialism and external validations, the Stoic philosophy offers a refreshing perspective on the nature of happiness. Stoicism, an ancient philosophy founded in Greece around 300 BCE, teaches us that true happiness lies […]
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Beyond the Individual
The title of this post is also the title of the book I am reading currently. “Beyond the Individiual” by Will Johncock is a book that is changing a lot of my outlook on my own Stoic learning. The author main goal in the book is to alter Modern Stoic understanding to include a more […]
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I don’t know
A little paradox I have noticed as I have gotten older. As I move into an age in which I should feel I have the most knowledge I am more aware of how unwise I am. As if the accumulation of experience and knowledge reveals the lack of experience and knowledge. This is both profound […]
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Peaceful thoughts
I took a walk today. It was cool outside and I walked along the side of the lake here in our local town. I felt the breeze and could smell the damp ground by the lake. It is in these times that I am reminded of the unity of everything around us, how we are […]
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The Signal
The mind of man does not contain reason in the sense that it is filled up and then the container closed off from the world. Our mind and bodies work as a sort of antenna for universal reason. This antenna is designed to receive the pure signal. It was evolved from our oldest ancestors to […]
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On Grief
Stoics are, as I am finding out are of little comfort to those suffering from loss. My brother has passed, “what has happened?”, my brother has passed and that is all. I keep repeating Epictetus in my head over and over, allowing myself to remain a calm puddle in amongst the turmoil around me. But […]
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Depression
I sometimes get really depressed. I have lived with this most of my life but I have found that in the last few years the feelings have been darker and more intense. I know the warning signs and can tell when I am about to take the dark road through my psyche. It is something […]
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Why Philosophy?
I have never been a bookworm. My interest in computers always kept me away from the written word. I would spend all my time pouring over new frameworks and churning out code till all hours of the night. But that was the old me, the one who was young and thought the highest pinnacle I […]
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Age
I am a developer by trade. I make my living through the creation of code. Everything I create will be rewritten, I have no illusions about that. I think about ageism a lot given the work force I am in. The younger generation always seem smarter and better equipped. But we must remember that everything […]