The Art of Living
Tomorrow’s events:
The Stoic Breath w/ Steve Beattie.Every Sunday @ 10:00 AM ET. RSVP here. 60 mins.
Memetic Mediation Campfire w/ Jason Snyder and Peter Limberg. Every Sunday @ 3:30 PM ET. RSVP here.
Metagame Mastermind w/ Daniel Kazandjian.Every Sunday @ 6:00 PM ET. RSVP here. 60 mins.
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July 11, 2020
The art of living is a tough and rough art to master.
The wisdom school I gravitate to is Stoicism, and the pretense of writing these journals is to practice my Stoicism, like Marcus Aurelius did with his writings. These journals do not talk about Stoicism that much and The Stoa is not just a place to talk about or practice Stoicism. I imagine this mix might be confusing to some, it is confusing to me sometimes.
I have a desire with this entry to penetrate some of this confusion, create some order, and give some direction. Many people have been asking for a 101 on The Stoa or for a glossary. I guess this means my initial strategy is working: create a mystery by giving people a felt sense of what is happening here without telling people what is happening here. This will either push away those who are “not ready” or it will inspire a longing for those who are ready to figure out what is happening.
I do not know if this is the best strategy anymore though. There is pressure to make the value add of The Stoa clear, and make it more accessible. I am hesitant to do that but I do see the need to do that. It is also more work to do that, and that work is not inspiring for me. I have been receiving a mixture of positive feedback and feedback for improvements about The Stoa. Having both is a blessing.
The positive feedback keeps me motivated when it becomes difficult to self-motivate. The feedback for improvements provides me perspectives I did not have before but seem so obviously true upon hearing them. A lot of the feedback is great but a lot of it is difficult to implement for one person, and a lot of it does not strike me as interesting or fun to do.
My inner asshole is coming online, coupled with a desire to be selfish. I want to do something that is inspiring and I do not want this project to feel like a grind. I do not mind working hard, but I want to work hard towards something that inspires me to jump out of bed.
These are things that I sense would be inspiring for me …
Developing the wisdom gym. There is a slew of psychotechnology practitioners that I could invite to The Stoa that could eventually be part of The Stoa’s ecology of practices.
Experimental sessions. There are a lot of sessions I would like to experiment with: Sensemaking Town Halls, Stoic News, Psychotherapy Cafes, Buddhistic Buffet, etc.
More sensemaking series. Patrick Ryan, Samo Burja, and Bonnitta Roy all have a regular sensemaking series at The Stoa that are pretty awesome. There are other people I’d like to invite as well. I imagine there could be “intellectuals in residence” and The Stoa can eventually serve as a hub for thinkers who operate outside the Blue Church.
Invite more guests. There is a bunch of people I’d like to invite to The Stoa. Some of whom are famous, others who are just freaking interesting.
Start an “anti-debates” series. Make the anti-debate concept a thing. Have a space for people of different memetic tribal positions come in and engage with each other.
This is a lot to do, and I have not figured out how to prioritize this, and trying to prioritize it too soon neuters the excitement of it all. I might have to consider investments or patronages soon, in order for The Stoa to fulfill its potential. I need a team to implement this. On top of all of this I am also engaged in writing projects and managing everyday life stuff, with all the difficulties and disappointments that those contain.
So yeah, the art of living ain't easy, but nor should it be. I am moving forward with fragments of clarity and with a jagged motivation. I do desire a cleanness of clarity and a smoother motivation, but this is all part of learning. An artist learning his craft has to create bad art first, before he has a chance of creating something good.
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