Noted
In the last Stoic Redux I encouraged readers to read Epictetus’ works, Seneca’s essays, and, of course, Meditations — the personal journal of Marcus Aurelius. Building on these classics with a modern Stoic teacher can be helpful in building your Stoic life. Find one that fits you, that you really can go with for a good run. As you see there are many to choose from. These folks are not gurus, or persons seeking disciples. They are prokoptons, persons making progress toward truth and being serious students of wisdom. They, like you and I, are on a journey, a Stoic path. They happen to write and create material for those of us who don’t. So many types, so many styles. And some of these modern Stoics are finding ways of supporting themselves with their Stoic “products.” That can be a turn off, your judgement, your choice. Again, go with one that speaks to our heart and mind.
Today I will introduce you to a recent find. A very graphic, clear presenter of Stoic wisdom. The Stoic Buddy is fresh and ambitious with a number of ways to be accessed.
Quotes
My name is Uwe Scharrer, and at Stoic Buddy, I'm the founder, developer, designer, marketer, and customer support. Thanks a lot for checking Stoic Buddy out! If you want to blame someone for terrible design, missing features, typos, or anything else that you don't like, it's on me. Very uncomplicated.
I haven't studied philosophy, so I can't impress you with old greek terms, but I'm a Stoic practitioner. An average Joe who tries to master Stoicism and live a happier life led by virtue. I'm searching for a flourishing life, a meaningful life, and a life where obstacles or setbacks are not holding me back but feeding my flame to grow with and through them.
Flourish As A Human Being
Find serenity and peace of mind regardless of your circumstances
Gain inner strength and resilience
Actively shape your character, becoming a better human being
Have clarity about your emotions and who you are
Keep the reins over your state of mind in your own hands
Become wiser
Finally, flourish as a person and live the happy life you deserve
Prosoche: Stoic Mindfulness - A Fundamental Stoic Practice
What Is Prosoche?
Basically, prosoche means attention, and Stoic mindfulness is often used as a modern term to express this idea. It's the foundation of Stoicism and many other philosophical or spiritual paths.
Without attention, we can't see, hear, or feel our present perceptions clearly - or, in other words - we can't live in accordance with nature.
According to Pierre Hadot, prosoche is the state of continuous, vigilant, and unrelenting attentiveness to oneself - the present impressions, present desires, and present actions that shape one's moral character (prohairesis).1
Two words are vital to emphasize to comprehend Stoic mindfulness. The first is continuous, and the second is present.
Consequently, we want to cultivate a mindset that makes a continuous effort to become aware of its conditions in the present moment.
from Feb 13, 2024 Stoic Buddy
Reflection
As I have browsed the Stoic Buddy blog it’s creativity, clarity, and graphics win the day.
The Dichotomy Of Control And How You Benefit, from February, 2024, provides an extensive workout on getting through the day with this basic Stoic concept. Quotes from the sources nail down the concept of functioning and focus on matters that are within our control. I liked the example given about climate change. Yes, it seems that this issue is out of our control, but our daily behavior or habits related to the environment are within our control.
The January 6 blog featured The View From Above. Marcus Aurelius wrote to himself about this concept when trying to get a proper perspective on things. Uwe concludes his extensive writing on The View:
Realizing the proper size of your problems related to the cosmos, time, or current world events doesn't minimize the value of your experiences or trivialize them. Instead, it puts them into perspective, regulates our emotions, and enables us to act rationally.
Let me take this view every day.
Resources
https://www.stoic-buddy.com/
Events
June 15 Conversations Event begins at 10 AM Eastern US time / 1400 UTC.
What is a Conversations event like?
Captivating discussions are framed by knowledgeable speakers, participants will have the chance to learn practical Stoic wisdom and discuss it with others, so that those ideas can be used to live more virtuously.
The goal of this event is for you to explore Stoicism with other like minded people. Remember, you will meet people from all over the world, who have come to Stoicism from a variety of backgrounds. You will meet new people. They will bring new ideas.
It’s small groups for Stoicism.
We will be using Zoom. We will be using Breakout Rooms.
https://lu.ma/join/g-cxlfUU3Ey4LGXhH