Who are you? No really.  Fogged, clouded, earthbound answers. Jobs? Habits? Hobbies?  Daily Stoic: I probably said this when this quote came up a year ago* . . . .  A friends was upset about his job and came to me complaining about it.  I told him something I'd heard and he wrote it on a sticky note on the wall of his cube: "It's a job, not a jail."  And another he put up: "Not everything you do in life is important."  I do pretty well separating my work from the rest of my life. Work is something I do, not who I am.  After spending 30+ years to get to this point in my work life, my career is good and I have the respect of my peers. I'm good at what I do and I take a small amount of pride in my work abilities and accomplishments.  But that isn't who I am. If you ask me, "What do you do?" (the more common form of "Who are you?" nowadays), I don't lead with "I'm a [insert job title / description here]."...

Pebbles in the air,  Still waters absorb impacts. Still waters still.  Daily Stoic: Stoic joy is internal. If it has outward expression, that's ok, but by no means necessary.  Stoic joy is  untroubled, a deep river that accepts changes and flows in new directions, all according to Nature, at a moment's notice  It's the deep sense of ease that comes from knowing that no matter what life throws at you, you have the tools to adapt to any situation.  I do not feel this.  I'm certainly closer now than I was before, but my progress is slow coming.  Today's Meditation: Today's Music: Eternal Source of Light Divine (Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne) 1: 'Eternal source of light divine' by George Frideric Handel Daily Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet , Act 2 Scene 2 

Mote in my eye, yes.  Beaver's dam stopping the flow,  Plucking it is hard.  Daily Stoic: The more effort I put into pursuing virtue, the better off I'll be.  Doing good will be easier.  Avoiding vice will be more habitual.  Not that it'll ever be exactly easy, but easi er . Today's Meditation: Hume's world? Reason is and ought to be, the slave of the passions?  Today's Meditation II: Today's Music: Gran Vals by Francisco Tárrega

Magic carpet ride Zoomin' around the scene, live,  Is that a haiku?  Daily Stoic: I've lived a good life save for one event. I had a stable and loving family growing up. My father made enough money for us to have most of what we wanted as kids.  I've been quite lucky in all the things that made my life easy. Plus, I was smart and enjoyed learning.  I understand that I started, say, passed second on my way to third in life.  I try to take this into account when I examine my day's actions, deliberately including an understanding that many (most?) people had it much harder than I did.   That doesn't mean I devalue my accomplishments — they are what they are — but I get that many who started without my advantages have done as much or more with their lives.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Music: Partita no. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004 5. Chaconne  by Johann Sebastian Bach Daily Shakespeare: Love's...

To virtue hasten,  Rivers tumble down courses fast,  By what means is best.  Daily Stoic: Like science, Stoicism is open to improvement. If a better way is found, I should abandon Stoicism and follow the new path.  This is one of the reasons I find it more in line with my approach to life.  Many (most?) other ideologies insist that their way is right, always and forever, and no evidence can contradict their doctrines. Their teachers were perfect as are their teachings.  Hagiography embodied.  Since Stoicism is a set of ideas, approaches to life and its problems, and is eminently practical, it encourages students to think critically about its teachings and to use what works best for them.   Not that I always change my mind when challenged — like all humans I am guilty of biases, prejudice, ignorance, and intransigence — but I hope I at least sometimes adapt when faced with evidence that I am wrong. It's a work in progress.  Ti...

Short but sweet enough,  The days of the dog, summer Gets the job done. Fin.  Daily Stoic: Avoid bad. Yes. Certainly.  Do good. Yes. Certainly.  Proactive goodness is necessary, not optional.  Today's Meditation: Today's Music: Déploration sur la mort de Jehan Ockeghem by Josquin des Prez

Fantasmal pursuits,  Trivial knowledge of dreams,  Some whole. Some broken.  Daily Stoic: Honors and recognitions make for a nice obituary, but too often the opportunity costs are more precious than we believe.  How much have I given away to pursue someone's good thoughts of me? How much more that's worth doing could I have done if I'd reserved that time and that effort, instead and directing it at a more worthy goal?  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Music: Nocturne by Maria Szymanowska

Banner days! Rejoice!  Peace be upon you, Pangloss!  The best of all worlds!  Daily Stoic: Epictetus certainly sounds harsh here. Stoic teachings on reserving assent can be that way.  It's hard to wrap my head around the practical implementation of keeping my cool in extreme situations. I get the need to, the overwhelming sense that maintaining a calm demeanor, and soul, makes in horrible times. I just fear that I will not be up to the task next time it comes.  Time for a good bit of Premeditatio Malorum . And for acceptance. PS: enjoy the feast of wise words below. As I said, it's a banner day for good thoughts.  Today's Meditation I: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III: Today's Meditation IV: Today's Meditation V: Kant (GMM)  Today's Music: Stabat Mater by Alissa Firsova Daily Shakespeare: Timon of Athens, Act 4 Scene 2

Temporary stay — Moon sliver widens, thins, fades — Phoenix on half shells.  Daily Stoic: Be straightforward and kind, honest and understanding.   Memento Mori . What's mine is only lent to me.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Music: Symphony in G minor, op. 11 no. 1 1: Allegro by Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint- Georges Daily Shakespeare: Sonnet 30

What is a good thing?  Forcing nature's will to bend?  Doesn't work that way.  Daily Stoic: Compassion is not compassion, charity is not charity, con coercion.  Consent is key. Intent is key. Desire is key. Stripping these away leaves the act with either no moral aspect, or a vicious one.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III: Today's Music: The Homeless Wanderer by Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou Daily Shakespeare: Henry IV, Part 1, Act 3 Scene 1

Without it, nothing.  The keystone of the whole arch.  Pinnacle topper.  Daily Stoic: Cosmopolitanism is an underappreciated aspect of Stoicism. Even people who have learned a bit about the philosophy miss this part.  Sure, they find the bits about "what is up to me and what is not up to me," and the Four Cardinal Virtues of wisdom, justice, courage, and temperance — those come up early in the works of major Stoics — but they stop there, at the end of the self-help section of Stoic thought. They never take the next step into understanding why it's important that we learn to control ourselves: so that we might be a benefit to ourselves, our family, our friends, our community, our country, and our world.  Without this final touch, we're missing the whole fucking point.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III: Today's Music: String Quartet no. 12 in F major, op. 96 ('American...

Oh, expiring light!  Oh, light of ancient mistakes!  Shine on new follies.  Daily Stoic: Justice, wisdom of relationships, of communities, of between persons. To act unjustly is to go against reason. To purposely violate the intentional stance of Stoic cosmopolitanism.  I must forgive others their errors even as I condemn my own. And I must do better.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar...: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes  by Thomas Cathcart, Daniel Klein. Today's Music: Piano Concerto no. 1 in E Minor, op. 11 2: Romance: Larghetto  (starting at 23:31) by Frédéric Chopin Daily Shakespeare: King Lear, Act 1 Scene 1