The Micro Morning Meditations Your 3-part Stoic morning routine. Allan John @whatisstoicism 1. Contemplation 🎧 Listen to today’s audio reflection below. 🔈 Listen Now Good morning. The meaning of life is a topic that humans have wrestled with ever since our evolution reached a point that gave us the self-awareness to do so. There are too many responses to the question to summarize succinctly. Maybe the meaning is for each of us to find out for ourselves, or maybe there is no meaning at all....
1 day ago • 2 min read
The Micro Morning Meditations Your 3-part Stoic morning routine. Allan John @whatisstoicism 1. Contemplation 🎧 Listen to today’s audio reflection below. 🔈 Listen Now Good morning. Every day, we encounter an almost endless series of stories. We’re subject to more stories than we probably even realize. The social media app that wants to keep you scrolling sells you provocative stories to keep you engaged. The politician who wants your vote sells you stories about how the world will look when...
2 days ago • 2 min read
The Micro Morning Meditations Your 3-part Stoic morning routine. Allan John @whatisstoicism 1. Contemplation 🎧 Listen to today’s audio reflection below. 🔈 Listen Now Good morning. We know that temperance is one of the four cardinal Stoic virtues on which we should base our actions if we want to live the philosophical life. We might also refer to it as self-discipline or moderation. But do we always know exactly what that entails? Do we know what it takes to practice the short-term restraint...
3 days ago • 2 min read
The Micro Morning Meditations Your 3-part Stoic morning routine. Allan John @whatisstoicism 1. Contemplation 🎧 Listen to today’s audio reflection below. 🔈 Listen Now Good morning. As an introvert, I’ve always found it difficult to put myself forward for leadership positions. The thought of having to instruct a group of people in some way has always been daunting to me. I know this isn’t an uncommon thing, and so I’ve often wondered how so many people can be comfortable taking charge. I’ve...
6 days ago • 2 min read
The Micro Morning Meditations Your 3-part Stoic morning routine. Allan John @whatisstoicism 1. Contemplation 🎧 Listen to today’s audio reflection below. 🔈 Listen Now Good morning. These days, we take time for granted. I don’t just mean that we underappreciate the time we have, but we also tend not to think about what time actually means. For us, time is what we allocate to tasks. It’s how we schedule and organize. It determines when we do things, go places, eat, sleep, wake up, and on and on....
7 days ago • 2 min read
The Micro Morning Meditations Your 3-part Stoic morning routine. Allan John @whatisstoicism 1. Contemplation 🎧 Listen to today’s audio reflection below. 🔈 Listen Now Good morning. In his short but excellent biography of Michel de Montaigne, Stefan Zweig summarizes beautifully the task to which the French philosopher dedicated his life: “ In such epochs where the highest values of life—our peace, our independence, our basic rights, all that makes our existence more pure, more beautiful, all...
8 days ago • 2 min read
The Micro Morning Meditations Your 3-part Stoic morning routine. Allan John @whatisstoicism 1. Contemplation 🎧 Listen to today’s audio reflection below. 🔈 Listen Now Good morning. A man once visited the ancient Stoic teacher Epictetus on his way to Rome because he had a lawsuit pending about an honor that he claimed. The man wanted to be the patron of Cnossus, the largest city in Crete. To be its representative in Rome would be a prestigious position. He intended to argue his case and sought...
9 days ago • 2 min read
The Micro Morning Meditations Your 3-part Stoic morning routine. Allan John @whatisstoicism 1. Contemplation 🎧 Listen to today’s audio reflection below. 🔈 Listen Now Good morning. In Book 2 of his Meditations, Marcus Aurelius gives himself a clear and concise reminder of things he “should always bear in mind”: What the nature of the whole is. What my nature is. How my nature is related to the nature of the whole and what kind of part it is of what kind of whole. That no one is stopping you...
10 days ago • 2 min read
The Micro Morning Meditations Your 3-part Stoic morning routine. Allan John @whatisstoicism 1. Contemplation 🎧 Listen to today’s audio reflection below. 🔈 Listen Now Good morning. Like all other ancient Stoic philosophers, Musonius Rufus practiced what he preached. And he did preach: Rufus was a teacher by trade. In one of his surviving lectures, we can read his reasoning as to why being exiled is not an evil thing. One needn’t be oppressed by exile, said Rufus, because it doesn’t deprive us...
13 days ago • 2 min read