The Daily Stoic7 Maalis 2019

Now Is Now

There is a beautiful passage on the last page of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s, The Little House in the Big Woods. She writes of an evening in the cabin with her family, her father playing the fiddle, her mom knitting in a rocking chair.

“She thought to herself, ‘This is now.’

She was glad that the cosy house, and Pa and Ma and the firelight and the music, were now. They could not be forgotten, she thought, because now is now. It can never be a long time ago.”

It’s a passage that has resonated with millions of people over the last 86 years, including the writer Gretchen Rubin who ends her book Happier At Home with a meditation on how it has inspired her for most of her life.

But what does it mean? It means the same thing that the Stoics have always talked about. That you have to live in the very now, even when it is ordinary and quiet, because the now is very special. It is the only thing that is true. What has passed is past, and our memories of it gradually degrade and betray us. What has yet to pass is future, and as we should know by now is never guaranteed. Now is all that is real.

"Give yourself a gift," Marcus Aurelius wrote, "the present moment."

Yet too many of us reject that gift. We continue to think of long ago. We dream of or fear a distant future. We are distracted or preoccupied and miss what is happening around us. It’s the quiet evenings at home with family that we should be present for. It’s the ordinary present that we should cherish.

Because it’s all we have.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(3125)

BONUS | 3 Life-Changing Lessons From Seneca in 3 Minutes

Seneca lived through illness, exile, and the brutal reign of Nero. In today’s episode, Ryan shares three of the most powerful ideas Seneca learned from those experiences and why they can change the wa...

7 Syys 2min

You’re in a Hurry and Don’t Know Why | A Hard Winter Training

Slow down. Pause. Take a breath. Because one day, you’ll realize you rushed through too much of your life, too much of your loved ones’ lives. 🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city n...

7 Syys 7min

The Moment Ryan’s Italy Trip Went Sideways

Ryan thought running 50 kilometers through Rome would be the hard part of the family trip to Italy but he was wrong. In today’s episode, he shares how the rest of the trip went completely off the rail...

6 Syys 30min

The Stoic Reminders Hiding All Over Rome

In Rome, Ryan could barely go for a run without passing a place connected to Stoic history. In today’s episode, he shares moments from his family trip, from visiting the places where the Stoics lived ...

5 Syys 30min

Don’t Let It Keep Slipping Away | The Philosopher's School Is A Hospital

It’s already Labor Day weekend. What happened? 📘 The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday: https://store.dailystoic.com/🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here | h...

4 Syys 6min

What Ryan Holiday Would Ask Marcus Aurelius

If Ryan could sit down with Marcus Aurelius and ask him one question, it wouldn’t be about Meditations or Stoic philosophy. In today’s episode, Ryan poses the question to Professor William O. Stephens...

3 Syys 19min

You Need To Hit The Road

It might even be easy to use some of the Stoic teachings to tell yourself that travel is exotic, or even frivolous. But it isn’t. It’s essential.📚 The Four Virtues Boxed Set: https://dailystoic.com/v...

3 Syys 2min

You Fought The Wall and the Wall Won | When Self-Discipline Becomes a Vice

“Why should we get angry at the world,” Marcus Aurelius writes, “as if the world would notice?”Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here | https://www.dailystoiclive.com/🇺🇸 USA d...

2 Syys 17min