Another night thoughts  Put off 'til too late today,  My lassitude reigns.  Daily Stoic: I'll meditate on this in the morning.  Why do I chase impossible things?  Do I know they are impossible?  If not, I cannot be blamed.  Errors happen.  If I find out later they are not feasible, then  I have a duty to myself to correct my actions. If I know they are impossible, but pursue then anyway, then I am not just in error, but actively distancing myself from prohairesis   and eudaimonia .  Why would I do that? Because I am mentally ill in some way that 'forces' me to act that way? Because I desire to gain the approval / avoid the disapproval of others? Because I am willfully going against my nature, actively making poor choices? Regardless of the reason, I must do better. Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Music: O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht – Oh Jesus Christ, light of my life, BWV 1...

I love sounds of rain,  Spring renewal in full force.  Patter patter pit. Daily Stoic: Unthinking habit plays a bigger role in my life than it should. Uninspected rote directing me to this or that, following comfortable paths laid down over years and miles.  How can focusing on my mind, my community's mind, and my neighbor's mind help me with this?  My mind, by finding justice in what I do. If that is by habit, wonderful! Likely though, it is not and I must refocus to fulfill my goals.  My community's mind, by seeing that I am part of the whole and must do what I can to help others and improve society. This is a primary aim, but not an entrenched aspect of my idiom yet.  My neighbor's mind, by reinforcing my understanding of, and empathy with, those I am with day after day. Learning more about how I am reflected in each and all of those people I meet.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Music: 'La Ca...

Thirty white horses On a red hill. First they tramp.  Then stamp, then stand still.* Daily Stoic: Who do I wish to impress?  My parents? My wife? My kids, friends, coworkers?  Transactional 'friends'? Online and social media 'friends'? Strangers? Strangers on the Internet?  All of them at one time or another.  It's a measure of progress, I suppose, that the last four groups have slipped increasingly into the "don't care" category over the years. (Then again, that could be a function of getting older and giving fewer fucks in general than I used to, rather than any real gains made through conscious effort on my part.)  And another: you. Though I write this mostly as a daily exercise, I can't help (yet? *fingers crossed*) but hope people read my thoughts and like them.  Stupid, I know, but there it is.  All of this, all of it, is wasted effort, wasted time.  Better to be better and have it noticed than to try to create a specific ...

Things in the newsfeed — Everything I learned about — I learned unwilling.  Daily Stoic: What holds me back?  Fear of failure?  Imposter syndrome?  Obsession?  Addiction?  Desire?  Lack of imagination, knowledge, daring, will?  How often do I fail and blame an irresistible compulsion? I can't not eat that sweet. I can't not give in to that temptation.  Telling myself I am helpless to stop it.  Utter bullshit. And I know it every time. And I still do it. I still fail.  Time to be better.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III: Today's Music: In the Month of March by Toru Takemitsu 

The music — listen! — O, night you . . . you tantalize!  A thing worth doing!  Daily Stoic: I sell my life a moment at a time for trinkets and trifles worth nothing.  I have an hour. I spend it —  spend  it, use it up, let it go never to have again — watching a TV show that barely entertains, if it entertains at all.  I have a day. I spend it — trade it, turn it out, let it expire until the last second has lapsed — playing phone games and dozing, gaining nothing.  I have a year. I spend it — exchange it, give it up, fritter it away until I blink and I'm writing the wrong number on my checks — treading water, standing still and making no progress. Time to reread How to Live on 24 Hours a Day  by Arnold Bennett.  Time to just and simply pay a-fucking-tention to what I'm doing.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Music: Overture, La Clemenza de Tito, K 621 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ...

Tough to care about, Today blehs without meaning. Need to do better. Daily Stoic: Not in the mood to do anything today.  Meditating isn't working.  Can't think straight or concentrate.  Perhaps I ought to put this off until later. Today's Meditation: Today's Music: 12 Notations pour piano , 1 Fantasque - Modere by Pierre Boulez (#1 is from 0:00 to 0:57, though the whole thing is worth listening to.  Sounds like the precursor to horror movie scores.) Daily Shakespeare: Henry VIII, Act 3 Scene 1 ================ From Ward Farnsworth, Classical English Rhetoric, part 3. Dramatic Devices : 14. Leaving out words: Aposiopesis   (pp. 182-92) Technical term:  Aposiopesis  (ap-o-sigh-o- pee -sis) is breaking off a sentence and leaving it unfinished.  Uses: Aposiopesis  often has effects similar to  præteritio : » it can create interest, suspense, and drama, drawing the reader / listener in to mentally fill in the gaps, making them part of t...

In seeming disorder,  Bees create purposeful lives.  It all works out well.  Daily Stoic: How many religions, philosophies, and sages have to tell me that renouncing desires is the path to a satisfied life before I believe them?  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Music: Romanian Folk Dances 2 Sash Dance by Bela Bartok   (@ 1:02) Daily Shakespeare: Sonnet 4

Sleepless in the night, Body-shelf stasis din't work. Off to work I go. Daily Stoic: Contrary to stereotype, philosophy is meant to be lived ; ivory towers need not apply.  Experience is the best teacher. If my philosophy is limited to solipsistic contemplation, I may discover a few ideas, but it will have no practical value in my life.  The entire reason I study philosophy is to be a better person.  If it doesn't show in my daily actions, how can I claim to have been doing anything useful with my time?  Today's Meditation: A favorite saying of mine relates here: Don't just do something! Stand there!  Today's Meditation II: Today's Music: Viola Concerto in G Major,  1 Largo by George Telemann 

Zen Buddhists calm rest Water still, shined, sleek, sure, smooth.  Stoic in nature.  Daily Stoic: I have my vices to work on, though most who know me, I am guessing, would not number greed and ambition among them.  I fall prey too easily to my appetites. Many things successfully tempt me. I know I need do better, but fail anyway.  Much more work to be done.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Music: Heal You by Anne Meredith   Daily Shakespeare: Sonnet 25

My mind, it plays tricks.  Light reflecting off water,  Nonsense and errors.  Daily Stoic: It takes a lot of education to believe some ridiculous shit.  Overly educated people seem to believe strange things as often as those with an utter lack.  I am no exception.  There are inaccurate, incompatible, even insane thoughts in my mind. I try to recognize them when they appear and, if I can manage to spot them, I try to rectify my error(s).  One of the most effective ways for me is to refocus on the basics: Is this something I control, something I can influence, or something I cannot control?  Is this in accord with Nature?  Does this further my goals of pursuing wisdom, justice, courage, and temperance?  Does this belief cause me to harm anyone? Or restrict their rights? Or encroach upon their freedom?  Finding the answers to these questions gives me a great basis from which I can evaluate the belief in question.  Chan...