The other morning I feared for our bougainvillea. The fear was based on recent actions by people living nearby. It’s taken years of care to have it grow so large and lovely and the idea that its beauty could be harmed put me in a foul mood. The bougainvillea is like a loyal friend who gives solace and pleasure because that’s what beauty does.
Not knowing how to respond to this fear, I went straight to Marcus Aurelius for advice. And found it: “Be like the rocky headland on which the waves constantly break. It stands firm, and round it the seething waters are laid to rest.” (Meditations 4:49)
The visualization of someone as a wave shattered into a mist of foam* just by my presence gave me much delight. So much so that I immediately felt better and tranquilly went on with my day.
Habits and routines can be very helpful. They can make us more efficient and thus save much stress. But life is not static. Certain changes in life can make our habits not only obsolete but counterproductive.
Habitual thought patterns can get us stuck in a rut. We move and wear ourselves out but without going anywhere.
Marcus Aurelius writes: “that all is as thinking makes it so” (Meditations, Book 12:22). In other words, we are our thoughts and these thoughts construct the world we live in.
News of world events as well as personal situations can make it easy get stuck in a negative mental loop. That’s why I’ve started Pretty Memories, a catalogue of photos representing special moments to help remind me that my life is full of wonderful things and that’s where my thoughts should be focused.
“Your mind will take on the character of your most frequent thoughts; souls are dyed by thought.” (Book 5:16)
Marcus Aurelius became emperor in 161 AD. Right after he started his reign, Rome was plagued with natural disasters: a pandemic, flooding of the Tiber, and scarcity of food. There was also the problem of conflicts with the Christians and of invasions from northern tribes. It kept Marcus’ heart uneasy and shackled with anxiety.
But with time, experience, and his Stoic training, Marcus began responding to his problems in a different way. When anxious, instead of freaking out he’d ask himself “Why am I troubled?”
“You have power over your mind—not outside events. Realize this and you will find strength.”
This strength has a home Marcus calls the fortress within. He also refers to it as the soul. And it is here one must go when troubled because “Nowhere you can go is more peaceful—freer of interruptions—than your own soul.”
To relax, we often feel the need to get away so we run off somewhere like to the countryside, to the sea, or to the hills. But why go through all that trouble when there’s no place that can give you the calm and relaxation than that of the fortress within. All we need to do when feel ill at ease and want to renew ourselves is retreat to our soul. (Meditations 4:3)
To relax, we often feel the need to get away so we run off somewhere like to the countryside, to the sea, or to the hills. But why go through all that trouble when there’s no place that can give you the calm and relaxation than that of the fortress within. All we need to do when feel ill at ease and want to renew ourselves is retreat to our soul. (Meditations 4:3)
So how can we create this inner citadel? How do we fortify our soul?
Inscribed on Delphi’s Temple to Apollo is the maxim “Know Thyself” and that’s a good place to start as it’s important to know what kind of terrain you’re constructing on before you get started.
How much of what you think you know about yourself is actually true? Have you constructed your own personal philosophy or have you let someone else do it for you (ex. tradition, religion, political party). Who is in command of your soul?
I don’t know if the concept of a fortress within is the same for women as it is for men. But I’m going to start my construction in front of the sea. Maybe with an aperitif.
Marcus Aurelius writes to himself that “no one loses any life other than the one he lives, or lives any life other than the one he loses.” (Meditations, Book 2:14)
A long life and a short life both end in the same way.
The past is dead and the future doesn’t exist. Therefore, the only thing you can be deprived of is the present and “the present moment is equal for all.”
Sitting at our favorite tavern in Aliki, I feel the surrounding beauty penetrate my skin. It is a soothing sensation because beauty has healing powers. Despite a momentary urge to take a photograph, I don’t. It would be like trying to physically possess what I see. Instead I want to absorb the moment until we become entangled. I want to be a part of that photograph not taken.
The Narrative Within 