Ta eis heauton
Before the pandemic and years before The Stoa was started, I exclusively hosted in-person events in Toronto with the Stoicism Toronto group. The first event was a success…
…as were many events that followed. Stoicism Toronto became the largest Stoic group in the world, hosting "philosophy cafes" and philosophy-art experiments, such as
’s "Philosopher is Present."
It culminated in my hosting a Stoicon Toronto conference featuring the likes of
, , John Vervaeke, and more. The highlight of the conference was John’s talk on the Stoic practice of “view from above,” followed by a guided visualization of the practice from Donald.
I cannot believe I hosted a conference, doing the whole shebang: flying in speakers, ordering food, designing the itinerary, etc. It was a lot of work and stressful. It was worth it. Many loved the conference. I was moved to hear people flying from all over North America, saying it was one of the best conferences they had attended. I even made a small profit.
You do not host a conference to make a profit. You host a conference to create a scene. I am good at “scene-making.” It’s a talent of mine. After the conference, the pandemic soon arrived, and I created a scene at an online place called The Stoa, especially during the lockdown years. The Stoa was a happening place then, with existential dance parties, freestyle sensemaking raps, Socratic speed dating, and shame breakthrough boot camps. As someone wrote in yesterday’s Collective Journalling session, The Stoa is a scene where you feel seen.
People were calling it the “burning man of the internet” at one point, and despite it purposely being kept relevant low-key by my “zero fucks social media strategy,” it somehow sneaked its way to be mentioned in the New York Times twice, referring to me as “a devotee of Stoic thought.” I stoically smirked at this because I am not a devotee of Stoic thought but more of an entrepreneur of Stoic practice.
While Stoic “thought” changed my life, I was always curious about how the Stoics practiced. The theme of the Stoicon Toronto conference was practice. Over the last 3.5 years, The Stoa has been my open-secret research project to discover practices that will put into practice the kind of "philosophy as a way of life" I am called to see in the world.
I am ready to put this into practice. I am also ready to practice hosting in-person events again. I have yet to do one since the online activities of The Stoa started. I did not feel called to; something about the city repelled rather than attracted me. The “covid moment” removed life from the city, and I did not feel called to put my life into it.
"Toronto the Good." This phrase is one of the nicknames of Toronto, coined by former mayor William Howland (1886-87), who campaigned on strict Victorian-era morality. Toronto had a new mayor sworn in yesterday who campaigned on a different morality. She wants to make the city good as well. If I put my life into the city again, I do not want to make it good. I want to make it wise.
At the center of Stoic philosophy is virtue, or the Socratic virtues, and the “mother of all virtue,” prudence, is also known as practical wisdom. Practically becoming wise is what the entire Stoic philosophy unfolds from. It is a foolish thing to attempt to become wise on your own. Wisdom is a collective project, not a solo one. If wisdom is to become more common, others need to come along, and we might as well bring a city along with us.
There is something about Toronto that feels like something is waiting to happen. I am tired of waiting. I know what I am capable of. I know what I can do. I can create a scene. “Toronto the Wise.” That has a nice ring to it.
I will host my first in-person event since The Stoa started with A.J. Bond this coming Monday. The first event will be a public one, a philosophical-improv game on the "living question." You can see the time, location, and details below. There will be more events, and they will be semi-private, with the location available only to paid subscribers.
If you are Toronto-based, invested in seeing the city become less foolish, and would like to help with this project, consider becoming a Less Foolish member. If you’d like to watch the history of Less Foolish, The Stoa, and the broader wisdom commons, you can watch these presentations:
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The Living Question Game @ Danu Social House. July 17th @ 8:00 PM — 10:00 PM.
“Questions do not always need an answer. Sometimes, they just need to be lived.
Join “philosophical guide” Peter Limberg (The Stoa and Less Foolish) and “shame educator” A.J. Bond (Discomfortable) in a playful philosophical experiment where we embody the deep questions while making new friends.
Participants will be invited to choose a thought-provoking question randomly from our philosophical loot bag and then live that secret question throughout the night in a series of discussions with other attendees.”
https://www.danusocialhouse.ca/events/the-living-question-game