Stoicism for a Better Life – Weekly exercise (December 6, 2020)
Hello there,
With the holiday season upon us, we are all adjusting to a new reality and new way of living. For many of us, it will be a holiday season without having the opportunity to see our loved ones. Then again, thanks to the advent of technology, we can still get some visual time with family and friends, and with the vaccines on the horizon, it is safe to assume we won’t have to go through isolation next year. So missing one year isn’t so bad, however, we can’t deny that this dystopian reality is still having an effect on people.
My government releases study after study on the increased use of recreational and prescription drugs, as well as the increase in sales of alcohol over the past 9 months. People are finding coping mechanisms. One such coping mechanism is shopping online. Although this may be to the benefit of Jeff Bezos’ overinflated pocketbook, I thought I would take the opportunity to share Seneca’s words of warning from almost two millennia ago, when he urges us to heed the perils of excess. This is from his work on Providence:
“If a man has always been protected from the wind by glass windows, if his feet have been kept warm by constant relays of poultices, if the temperature of his dining room has been maintained by hot air circulating under the floor and through the walls, he will be dangerously susceptible to a slight breeze. All excesses are injurious.”
Seneca went through ups and downs. At a certain point, he was one of the richest statesmen in the Roman empire, and at others, he was penniless and exiled (when he had to give up his enormous fortune to Nero in the year 62 – after Burrus died – to …you know… keep his head attached to his neck). However, regardless of how much or little he had in his accounts and estate, he tried to never associate his happiness or sense of self virtue to his possessions. I specifically chose to use the word “tried” as he was (by his own admission) as fallible as the rest of us. But I digress…
A simple life is a happy life. Lest we forget that happiness can be found in living according to our nature, and although we are not as draconian as our older Cynic cousins, as Stoics we remind ourselves that luxuries, comforts and excess weaken the spirit and our resolve, and it also gets in the way of the virtue (i.e. working towards the betterment of humanity) that we puruse. Those of you who listen to my podcast will remember the example of my pillow (or lack there of) when I sleep, and how this makes me more virtuous. You will also recall that I consistently speak up against self-deprivation, as self-deprivation does not make you more virtuous in and of itself.
The ultimate lesson here is that THINGS do not bring or take away from happiness. But buying things to distract ourselves and fill a void can cause harm. It causes harm to your pocket book (debt can ruin a life), it causes harm to the sweatshop and child labourers and the workers jumping out of factory buildings into suicide nets, it causes harm to the planet as the more we buy the more things go into landfills, etc… Overconsumptions, though touted by capitalism to be the only good, is an evil and categorically opposes the virtue we seek.
So this week, when you’re browsing online as to what to buy, STOP. Objectively ask yourself if this purchase is necessary, or if it will make you or someone else more virtuous. Have the courage to ask the question: WIll this purchase make the world a better place and have the strength to walk away from it if the answer is no.
I wish you a safe holiday season. We’re all in this together, and we’re all rooting for each other.
Anderson Silver
(Author of “Your User’s Manual”, “Vol 2: Your Duality Within”, and Vol 3: Your Dichotomy of Control)