Applied Stoicism - an introduction


Stoicism is a path to wisdom for many who choose to interact with the universe including our world and the people in it.  I won’t say that it is useful for everyone; some may choose a different path to wisdom.  But for many of us who get up to work every day or who choose to raise, teach and lead people, I find it very useful in terms of navigating a complex web of things, people, causes and events.  If you haven’t taken the time to decide what your philosophy is, then Stoicism is an excellent starting point.


Like many who have embraced this philosophy, I started from a point of anxiety, confusion and fear.  In May of 2014 (at age 38) the chaos of managing a career, raising a family and participating in a “type-A” religion got the best of me.  While it seemed to me that so many of my peers were managing perfectly well and flying effortlessly through life, I often wondered what was wrong with me.  Why was life so difficult for me?  Why did I break down so much?


A typical cycle for me was: get up early, work all day, commute home, be with family, attend to church and school activities in the evening and/or on the weekend.  Things would hum along just fine for weeks at a time.  But every so often, on a Friday afternoon, I would simply break down and have no motivation to do anything.  But the show would not stop and I could not afford to disengage.  I fell into a sort of mild depression for a few days at a time, and then I would eventually snap out of it and get back to my normal self.  However, after several years, it took longer to snap back into normalcy and my mild funk grew darker as I became more comfortable with contemplating ending my life.  In May 2014, I was about to take a serious step in that direction when I realized how much devastation it would cause my wife and young children if I did.  I realized I needed to root this out.  That month I called a trained therapist and began to get the help I needed.


She was trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and she helped me perform some deep root cause analysis of my thinking process.  Two follow-ups came from those sessions with her: 1) I took a values assessment to reveal what was most important to me and 2) I re-evaluated my religion (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or the more common designation Mormonism.)  Those two exercises helped clear clutter from my head, and along with the cognitive tools my therapist provided me, I learned to deal with the mental downturns.


Once I was in a better place mentally, I studied a bit more about CBT.  This eventually led me to Donald Robertson’s (2013) work and then to Stoicism.  Soon after, I had a copy of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations (2014) in my hands and as I read it, a light turned on in my soul.  But the first couple of readings of Meditations didn’t make much sense to me.  Later, I discovered Pierre Hadot’s The Inner Citadel (2001) and the world of Stoicism unfolded in front of me like a beautiful tapestry.  I read Meditations again, and Marcus’ writings were more satisfying than when I had read them the first couple of times.


The years 2015-2019 were filled with a lot of reading and writing, but I felt I was only scratching the surface; and my study seemed haphazard.  During those years, I discovered Chris Fisher (his website, Traditional Stoicism and his podcase Stoicism on Fire) and The College of Stoic Philosophers.  I determined that this was the way for me.  By this time, I had effectively dealt with my dark days.  Even though an occasional funk would still come around, I had become more resilient in dealing with my inner dialogue and emotions.  I had experienced first-hand the power of Stoicism and I was at a point to dive deeper into this ancient philosophy.


The first course I took was the Stoic Essentials Studies.  The entire philosophy was reviewed from physics, to logic and to ethics.  My appetite was whetted and I enrolled in the Marcus Aurelius School.  At the time of this writing, I have just completed the second semester and am about to begin the semester on ethics.  


During the second semester (physics), one morning I was thinking about the holistic framework of Stoicism.  As per my daily routine, I summarized my morning meditation into a tweet.  In that tweet, I noted five exercises that a Stoic would practice: observation, contemplation, preparation, action and repetition (link to tweet).  During that week, I elaborated (in my daily tweets) a bit on each exercise.  During the following week, I tried to visualize how each of those spiritual exercises would tie back to the framework of physics, logic and ethics.  I sketched this out into a PowerPoint slide.  I realized I needed to add a sixth exercise: education.


After the first pass, I remembered that Stoicism teaches us two important ideas:


I tried to capture these two key, related ideas with a gradient shade.  As Stoics, we work a lot on what is up to us.  In fact, we ought to spend all of our time in this space (our soul or character or will).  But because we live in the physical world, and because we believe we are all part of the One or Nature, our duty is to interact with people, manage work, create, tolerate or enjoy the weather and engage with the world of matter and indifferents around us. (externals or indifferents).  Therefore, we are always working on what is up to us whether we are memorizing our mneme or sitting in a meeting full of triggered managers or contemplating our day before us.  To put a finer point on this concept, a Stoic does not sit on a mountain top his whole life.  A Stoic would not cut himself off from the world.  Indeed, the Stoic may, at times, meditate in the woods, away from society as it were, but this is not his active state.  His natural state is in a family, at work, in a city, on a ranch, helping others - working and participating in the world and the cosmos.  He works towards excellence of character by engagement, but not by detachment (see Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.34).  Simply put, Stoicism must be applied.


This project is about expanding on this framework.


The What: explaining traditional / classical Stoicism as a whole, and corresponding spiritual and practical exercises.  Three core essays will discuss physics as related to the discipline of desire; logic as related to the discipline of assent and ethics as related to the discipline of action.  Corresponding essays on the six practices (education, repetition, contemplation, preparation, action, observation) will explain how they are related to the core topics, as well as expand on a broader set of practical exercises in which a Stoic may engage.


Part of the project will attempt to explain some differences between the wider umbrella of Modern Stoicism and the smaller (perhaps) Traditional or Classical Stoicism.  This will largely fall under the core essay of physics.


Included will be a list of references I’ve studied.  The reader will have a solid list of material to study for their own journey to wisdom.


To Whom: myself, my children, wife, family, friends, and anyone who comes across this project.


How: essays which explain key ideas as per what I learned from the College of Stoic Philosophers and others; with ample references and recommendations for decently educated people to read, watch or listen.  Once finished, the project should be mostly complete, but I reserve the right to keep it updated and revised based on feedback from trusted people.


Why: First, Stoicism should be kept whole and I want to see it in a glance; in a framework which resonates with me personally.


Second, I’ve come across a lot of content while learning Stoicism.  Some have been helpful.  Seeing a list of references, based on this framework helps me remember more easily.


Third, I hope it will be useful for others as they pick up the study of Stoicism - I hope this helps them navigate the loads of books, podcasts, videos and learning resources available.  It may also help others to immediately put to use exercises outlined in the framework.


When: The idea began November of 2020.  The project began in earnest in December 2020.  Completion before June 2021.


References

Aurelius, M. (2014). Meditations (M. Hammond, Trans.). Penguin Classics, An Imprint Of Penguin Books.

Fisher, C. (2023). Traditional Stoicism. Traditional Stoicism. https://traditionalstoicism.com/

Hadot, P. (2001). The Inner Citadel: The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (M. Chase, Trans.). Cambridge, Mass. London Harvard University Press.

Robertson, D. (2013). Stoicism and the art of happiness. Teach Yourself.