With one more day of Stoicism through which to persevere, and it has felt like perseverance, I thought I might reflect briefly on how the week has gone and what has come of it.
We've eaten plainly but not avoided flavour entirely, nor ignored hunger. We've slept on soft beds with pillows and blankets. We've paid little attention to our dress (not much of a change there) but not stepped bravely outside societal norms to meet some utilitarian ideal. We've held our tongues and reflected on our actions. We've avoided (mostly) the idle, shallow pursuits that are usually our daily companions and focused our energies instead on what we knew needed to be done.
Were we successful? Were we good Stoics? Well, we had a go.
As always, I'll let Marcus weigh in on the subject:
"Your attempt was always subject to reservations, remember; you were not aiming at the impossible. At what, then? Simply at making the attempt itself. In this you succeeded; and with that, the object of your existence is attained." (Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book VI, 50)
Geoff
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