Daily writing prompt

Do you have a quote you live your life by or think of often?

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Nearly twenty years ago I stumbled upon Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and the writings of the Stoics. I can’t tell you the exact story because too much time has passed: at the time I was not religious but had an inexplicable interest in spirituality, and I read a sermon by a Unitarian Universalist minister called “Humanist Spirituality: Oxymoron or Authentic Path to Enlightenment?”. It was my introduction to Greek philosophy and meditation, and I found Stoicism and Epicureanism of particular interest in their rejection of the world’s trappings and embrace of virtue and simple living. Vague interest became a serious interest and study, though, when one of my close friendships suddenly exploded over the summer of 2008, and I was dealing with a lot of pain and anger and uncertainty. It was then that I fully read the Stoics and paid attention to what they had to say, and one quote from Marcus Aurelius’ meditations especially hit home: Remember how much more we are affected by our feelings about things than the things themselves. Around this same time I stumbled upon this wonderfully sweet and wise YouTube channel that’s long gone, but it featured a 30s-something black man who always wore an Oakland Raiders hat talking about life and meaning. Once he did a reflection the idea that “Between stimulus and response, there is a space”. I learned later he was quoting Viktor Frankl, but I didn’t know that then and it connected powerfully to what I was reading from the Stoics. Stoicism has continued to be a bedrock of my life in the twenty years since, although I will freely admit that like any bedrock it has at times sunk into disrepair, grown forgotten and caked with dirt — but it’s still there. I’m much less of a Stoic than I was in those years because it’s frankly a lot easier to focused and zealous when you’re young and in college than when you’re older and have to go to work and pay bills and deal with people’s boomboxes. Of course, that’s where the real use of a practical philosophy is — keeping us grounded and growing through the challenges of everyday life, which come not as huge monsters but monstrous piles of petty issues. Remembering that space between stimulus and response is especially helpful when working with the public — helping deesclate conflicts, helping not get fired — and overcoming the seduction of passion, which makes us feel good about getting mad or indignant or whatever. The Oakland Raider cap man often closed with another saying, which is related and appropriate: Take life a little lighter than it comes.