210609 What I learned in my studies this morning

Playing in the stream

Otters dance between the waves.

Books open new worlds.

Daily Stoic: 

Nip it in the bud.  Many bad habits are already ingrained, rutted into my day-to-day after so many trips down that lane. How much easier would it have been to stop them at the source, rather than wait for them to become an uncrossable torrent?

To do:

1. Start slowly and begin remediating those vices I already have. Lay the first branches which will make the dam.
2. Be watchful for new foibles before they grow into degeneracy.  Cull them before they become dangerous to health and  happiness.

 Today's Meditation:

From A Guide to the Good Life by William B. Irvine 

Chapter 15: Personal Values — On Luxurious Living

Leaving fame aside, people often place acquiring money and expensive things atop their hierarchy of values.  Is it that hard to see why this might be a bad idea?

Recognizing this, the Stoics offered some details about how to prevent this from becoming a problem.

Visualize the negative consequences of wealth and "keeping up with the Joneses."  Musonius once reflected that if you want to make someone truly miserable, shower them with wealth.  

Ever meet someone who takes pride in their snobbery?  Who only drinks the micro-est of brews or the vintage-est of wines? Who insists on only the most organic and local of ingredients in their food?  These people seem unable to enjoy the simple things in life, leading to the never-ending pursuit of ever-increasing pleasures.

What often happens after you eat a rich meal?  Immediate effects include indigestion and bloating, feeling too full to move or too listless to truly enjoy the rest of your evening.  

Aside: why is it that eating rich meals almost always includes overindulgence?  I suppose it's because it [ostensibly] tastes good, but it just seems like it would be a wonderful habit to practice moderation in consuming sumptuous food.  But that might be hard . . . .

Later regrets might include the cost of the repast or the time used up in dining. 

Find pleasure in simple foods and simple pastimes and you will find the world a never-ending source of things to enjoy.  Insist on rare tastes and you will spend long years rueing the (majority of) times when those rare tastes cannot be met and going to ever-more-extravagant lengths to chase the dragon.

Sounds like hell to me.