Giving a Gift
Hey friends,
It was a good day at The Stoa on Sunday. We had another Stoic Breath session with Steve Beattie, a Mediation Campfire with Jason Snyder and Jared Janes, and a session with Caveh Zahedi called Making Friends With Fear. Also, I was interviewed on the Ari In The Air podcast, where I talk about Stoicism and The Stoa. The interview is reposted here.
There will be no events tomorrow, but I will be posting LOTS of events tomorrow for this week.
In the meantime, the wisdom gym that is emerging at The Stoa is rolling out nicely. RSVP to upcoming regular events here:
Writing Meditation w/ Davood Gozli. Every Wednesday @ 9:00 AM ET. Next session: April 15th
Existential Dance Party w/ Collin Morris. Every Thursday @ 8:30 PM ET. Next session: April 16th
Socratic Speed Dating w/ Raven Connolly. Every Friday @ 7:00 PM ET. Next session: April 17th
Metagame Mastermind w/ Daniel Kazand. Every Saturday @ 6:00 PM ET. Next session: April 18th
Mediation Campfire w/ Jason Snyder and Jared Janes. Every Sunday @ 3:30 PM ET. Next session: April 19th
Stoic Breath w/ Steve Beattie. Every Sunday @ 10:00 AM ET. Next session: April 19th
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April 12, 2020
Yesterday at the Metagame Mastermind session at The Stoa, I talked to my buddy Phil Chen. We discussed how to give our gift. As I mentioned before, I am viewing The Stoa as my gift to the world right now, and a gift is something you give without expecting anything in return.
A gift is a risk. The receiver might not want it, or there might be no receivers to receive it. Giving a gift with a pure heart is a vulnerable experience. You have to risk something in order to give something. You have to risk being unreceived. I also think, in order to give your best gift, you have to be worthy to receive a gift in return.
If you do not feel worthy enough to receive a gift, you will be corrupting the gift you give, because your unworthiness will leak through in manipulative ways. A gift is not a contract, it is not a guarantee, and it is not an expectation. It is something that comes from the purest of places, and if it is given in the right way, at the right time, then it will be properly received.
Thanks to Phil's inquiry, an insight stumbled into my mind. With my gift of The Stoa, I will have to approach the giving as if I will be out of the picture one day. I have to give as if The Stoa does not need me. This is hard just typing. From my vantage point, The Stoa is already doing so much cool shit, and every time I see a retweet or some recognition, those sugary ego hits come my way.
And, as I mentioned to Raven yesterday, I have an ego-based fear of losing my regular facilitators, such as Collin. He just launched his own digital dance studio, inspired by The Stoa model. I am getting excited though. All of this is a delicious opportunity to practice my Stoicism.
The great thing about this philosophy is that it presents every situation as an opportunity to get into right relationship with reality. If The Stoa keeps growing (which I think it will) and it keeps putting out sexy stuff (which I also think it will), then it will be like walking into an egoic minefield. One wrong step, and boom: I will be egoically captured.
Amor fati, baby. Act as if you wanted this to be the case. This is fucking great actually. Now I have many opportunities to practice overcoming ego, by walking with prudence, and by being carefully mindful with each step. And I think the insight Phil teased out of me will help with this. I have to adopt that frame now, that one day I will not be involved with The Stoa. It is no longer mine, and one day others will no longer see it as mine as well.
A steward does not own his lord's house.
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Gift Economy / The Stoa currently operates through a gift economy. We are offering the Stoa as a gift, for people to freely use during these troubled times. If you are inspired to provide a gift to The Stoa, email thestoa at protonmail dot com. Your gift can take the form of money, support, services or ideas. If you wish to gift money, you can do so here or here for ongoing gifts.