It’s valuable to have mentors. Whether dead or alive, people who do things, approach things or think in a way you’d like to. They’re the ones who can get you closer to that. But getting too close or worshipping them without questioning them is misleading, possibly dangerous and mutes your …
Sometimes the thing you want to give a lot of fucks about it is right there under your nose. The thing you’re chasing, pursuing and wanting to be or do can be the thing you’re doing right now. I wrote this on April 20 this year: I was looking for something …
You are unfortunate in my judgement, if you have not been unfortunate. – Seneca, from On Providence When anything difficult, trying or challenging (whether small or massive) comes along, embrace it. Life is a series of tests designed to make us appreciate the good times and stronger during the tough. …
The optimist taking an exam believes ‘I will definitely pass the exam’. And if they don’t it leaves them completely devastated, not being prepared for the chance they wouldn’t)t prepared for not passing it). A pessimist thinks ‘There’s no way I’ll pass’ and spends their whole time wasting life in a disgusting …
You must know that it is no easy thing for a principle to become a man’s own, unless each day he maintain it and hear it maintained, as well as work it out in life. – Epictetus, The Philosophy of Epictetus XXX If you want to get better at something, taking …
I’m not taking a photo of anything (other than practical reasons, receipts etc. or for this blog) until September 2018. This is why, But today, a student of mine gave me another reason. How long is a moment (and what is it)? Watch this (at 1:40): When you see something …
I made three new year’s resolutions this year and one was: Be Present. And for the most part I have. I don’t use my phone or computer in the presence of any friends anymore. I check my phone twice a day. I have 0 things that give me notifications and …
If you see a black dog, you think ‘I see a black dog’. And much like you sense the dog with your eyeballs, you also sense when you hurt yourself. So instead of thinking, ‘I can see a black dog’, you can think ‘There is a black dog over there’, …
Time goes in one way, so life is just a series of NOWs. At some point they all pass, and are all in the past. So though the past does create you, what if you couldn’t actually look back on it? A short relationship with someone or a long one would make …
Epictetus once placed an iron lamp in his home next to his household gods (valuables). He heard a noise at the door and next thing it was gone. He reflected on it and wasn’t fussed about it. He said: To-morrow, my friend, you will find an earthenware lamp; for a …
