An excellent book by Laura Dassow Walls
Philosophy is never cheap.
Of the classical branches of philosophy, this one being aesthetics (concerned with beauty and art),
Both the author and the philosopher/writer/walker, bring the reader toward the metaphysics while exploring the inner space of inner peace.
Open yourself to the art and beauty here and now.
“Wonder is the feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder.”
-Plato, Theaetetus, 155
Early morning groceries at Uptown.
Heading for groceries at Walmart.
Trying to save a nickel….
Living is doing, and doing may make sense out of the day.
What a routine: waking up to one, working through one, being with one, seeing one and so on , ad infinitum.
Philosophy is relating to common sense and doing it for the sake of itself and to produce more of it.
A bit like that snake that eats itself but being able to keep the malevolence out of the way.
Maybe that is the best way to treat it….
Life is important and the only time to live.
But death is coming and it happens every day.
Lots of books about it.
Lots of philosophy about it.
But it is important to make the experience be your own way of living each day.
Some say, each day is a blessing,
and philosophy tends to say an awful lot about life to express a simple way to live each day.
Most of us are still too full of ourselves to truly live a simple life.
Maybe that is the hook needed to persuade the majority of people to slow down a little and maybe even live a little,
Some phrase it like ‘The Joy Still Felt’, (an autobiography by Isaac Asimov) or living the simple life.
Start out this way, do it each day, do more and more and grow a simple way to live until that is all you do.
Consider this challenge to engage the moment and live simply as often as you and others are able.
You can’t go wrong.
Just do it.
The habit is good and is its own reward.
There is a man in that box.
He is a leader.
Don’t think, do.
“Come on Mav.”
“He got 5, that makes Mav, an ace.
How to build a good character through the use of virtue.
It is a fact that any weather severe enough to affect human health outcomes is important.
Some authority may be exaggerating the outcomes on health risks, but WHO article are worth digesting into any search for clarification.
We are getting prepared to work on problems like Climate Change without enough preparation , research and study.
Let’s look into Climate Change.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health
Yes, we lost sleep due to the extra warm summer.
Yes, we already loose sleep.
Yes sleep is important and we need ways to get more of it.
Education is key. Virtue can help us become more aware about our sleep habit.
Try both by checking out the link below.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(22)00139-5/fulltext
In this dialogue, I am clarifying our common experience like loosing a cell phone. What these differences are like and how to practice the habit of doing no harm or the proper use of impressions: specifically about change, loss and things out of our control like death.
Me: Damn, I have just heard the worst news of my life. I have cancer, they give me a couple of years to live.
You: Wow, that’s too bad. I am very sorry, you don’t look too bad, perhaps they are wrong? Anyway, ignore me, you must be very upset.
Me: I am because I can’t stop the cancer. I have been told to control my exercise, nutrition and sleep. I feel like chucking the whole thing and go back to smoking, eating junk food and sleeping anyway I want…
You: Epictetus says we have very little control over our bodies, environment, even our own lives. As a philosopher, you must want to contemplate this principle and use it as a routine while you navigate through your bad news?
Me: You are right, I have to recognize my sage and Epictetus would not let me be reacting to the little things or the big challenges in my life. In fact, he would insist I stick to my ‘practice’ and ‘do no harm’.
You: So, to be a stoic is not about having a ‘stiff upper lip’?
No, far from it. It is about preparing for change and loss like my cancer or sooner rather than later demise. Recognize my ‘proper use of impressions’. And live the rest of life like my sage does, like a stoic!
Every good idea has a little magic reality and historical fiction to make it work.
So, what have we started and where are we going to end up?
When you know life is short (death comes soon!), you look around and things come closer.
I have clarity and do what is important in my life.
What am I over doing? Eating, smoking, alcohol, TV, Devices, One meal a day? Or eating too much?
What am I under doing? Avoiding my life, facing my fear, being present, doing harm, and the proper use of impressions?
For me, it is all about stopping bad habits, and doing good habits more often.
I am starting a new morning and evening routine that automatically guide me through them each day with a recording that I play and journal about each time I do it.
I do my best each day to be here, clean up, slay my dragon or do what I procrastinate each day.
What has been suppressed in the American psyche?
How can it be awakened from its slumber?
The Essential Works by Ralph Waldo Emerson
We hold parts of ourselves hostage through withholding solitude nature and being our true selves. Or so says my friend, Henry David Thoreau.
We stifle our true selves, I agree, quiet time is important: inner peace.
I wrote, A Yankee in Canada which is a meditation of sorts about our suppression.
Let’s all wake up and sing a song that brings the kind of hope without weakness.
A hope that shows strength and a willingness and ability.
Yes, courage, compassion,self awareness and contemplation.
Think about reading Emerson.
Get the idea from he that knows the truth first hand.