210814 What I learned in my studies this morning

Time to trip the lights, 

Fantastical creatures lurk. 

Adventure awaits! 

Daily Stoic:

I talked about this letter a while ago. 

Though not a trick to be used to amuse the masses, philosophy is, for me at least, fun as hell. 

I love it. It has done so much for me in my life to make it better. I am a different person today than I would have been had I not studied philosophy for.... Geez. Has it really been that many years? 

And I am a different person today than I was just nine months ago when I began this blog: happier, kinder, more helpful and accepting of others, more appreciative of my spouse and children, more capable of withstanding hardships, setbacks, and disappointments, 

See also, below.... 

Today's Meditation:

Google voluntaryism. Google the non-aggression principle. 

Daily Shakespeare:

Macbeth | Act 2 Scene 1

From Letters from a Stoic by Seneca, Letter LIII:

In this long letter, Seneca urges Lucilius to devote himself to the study of Philosophy. 

Though the writing has Seneca's usual admirable style, it seems a bit disjointed to me. The beginning is a tale of a trip he took across a few miles of water when a storm approached. He became seasick and had a terrible time of it. This leads to discussing physical malady in general. 

He contrasts this to sickness of mind. When something is wrong with your body, eventually reality will force confession from you that you are, like it or not, ill or injured. When something is wrong with your mind, you may well become less and less able to recognize it. 

That last highlighted part scares me.

I try to do the right thing. I watch for times when I act without virtue. I search for areas in my life that need improvement and then try to act to change my behavior in that arena.

But I know there are some things in my psyche of which I am unaware. Parts of me which tempt or influence me to doing wrong. 

Luckily, Seneca has an answer for us: Philosophy.

Through the action of philosophy, specifically Stoic philosophy, we can train ourselves to find moral illness. We can anticipate our reactions and necessary remedies. We can internalize those habits until they are second nature, automatically springing to mind when the need arises.

I am building a network of habits, attitudes, and behaviors to resist unexpected debauches, but I may never be as well prepared as I need to be. These morning studies have been, and will continue to be, a huge part of whatever I accomplish in this arena.