A beginner's guide to stoicism, and a journal of its modern application.
Three years of Stoic Week. For three years I’ve witnessed the stoic community grow and the team at Stoicism Today improve Stoic Week. The following is a recap of my personal Stoic Week 2015 and observations of my results over the years.
Personal Reflection Stoic Week
Stoic Week 2015 Day 7. Nature. For this seventh and final day of Stoic Week 2015 the theme is Nature. I find this topic the most open to interpretation within Stoicism; it’s a fairly vague term that means different things to different people. I have grown to accept it to mean everything. Nature is the universe, God, gods, keep reading…
Quotes Stoic Week
Stoic Week 2015 Day 6. Resilience. From Marcus we get some more wisdom to strive for. Easier said than done, as I find most Stoic maxims, but I interpret “be cheerful under all circumstances including illness” to not just be about putting on a brave face, but genuinely accepting that so much that happens in life is up keep reading…
Quotes Stoic Week
Stoic Week 2015 Day 5. Relationships. Another nugget from Epictetus; succinctly stating that others act based on their perception of what is right and wrong, and that may differ from ours. This is a nice maxim to consider when you feel annoyed, irritated or angry at others for something they’ve done. We should remind ourselves that when we are “wronged” keep reading…
Quotes Stoic Week
Stoic Week 2015 Day 4. Virtue. In Epictetus’ quote for today’s theme of virtue, I chose to highlight this particular excerpt because it’s important to remember that the small positive actions we take daily are significant. They keep us moving forward, and though resisting eating my kids’ Halloween candy isn’t worthy of awards or praise, it is still keep reading…
Quotes Stoic WeekStoic Week 2015 Day 3. Mindfulness. We often say or think things like “I just need to get away.” Marcus Aurelius advises that there is no need to physically go away when we have the capacity to retreat into our own minds. The caveat here is to have a healthy mind within which to retreat. Don’t dwell keep reading…
Quotes Stoic Week
Stoic Week 2015 Day 2. Today’s theme is control. The quote is a shortened excerpt from Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, in which he discusses framing your mind as you wake. We are humans, born to do human things; so instead of laying in bed, cuddled up—especially on chilly Fall mornings like here in Halifax, NS—consider that you keep reading…
Quotes Stoic Week
Stoic Week 2015 Day 1. Life. I found one of the short quotes of Epictetus provided in the handbook to carry a lot of power. Endure and renounce. I take this to mean, have the courage to bear anything that is good and the self discipline to avoid or decline anything that is bad. Share your thoughts on this keep reading…
Quotes Stoic Week
For the fourth year running, the team at Stoicism Today is putting together Stoic Week. Running from November 2–November 8, this year’s event promises to focus on the meditations of Marcus Aurelius; perhaps the most famous practicing Stoic in history. Stoic Week is an online course, community and handbook that introduces participants to the foundations of keep reading…
Personal Resources Stoic WeekStoic Week 2013 starts tomorrow; which is my first. I did the pre-stoic week questionnaires and have read the handbook and it sounds very interesting. It seems the organizers are trying to quantify the effectiveness of Stoicism for living a good life, so I’m on board with that. I found—as I tried to read the keep reading…
Personal Resources Stoic Week