In my relationships this means to give love when I can love. Like in the first week, Stoic thinking focuses one on the things they can effect. I know life ends and I know that I will be disturbed when they die, sorry Epictetus I’m not as strong as you. Each one has an ending.Īs a father and husband I don’t reflect on this much and when the idea comes I try to shift to an application of it. Life ends and if you don’t like it that way you can find a way to the door. Nature gives us examples of this in the people we love but also of the things around us. Seneca suggests that the rules of life are just as clear as the sign at the video rental store. I never cried, complained, or asked why me when the game had to be returned, that was one of the rules. As a child I recognized the ephemeral nature of things, even those as simple as a video game. I would play that game – most often Ninja Turtles – non-stop until it had to be returned on Sunday afternoon. When I was eight or nine my mom would take me to the video store to rent a Nintendo game for the weekend. The simplistic idea I return to is renting Nintendo video games as a youth. In his letters, Seneca writes that even though one of his friends was of a stout mind, he still crumbled under despair when his entire city burned to the ground.
The thought of losing my wife and daughters is an especially hard part of Stoic thinking and I have no idea how it might help. If you kiss your child, or your wife, say that you only kiss things which are human, and thus you will not be disturbed if either of them dies. Then, if it breaks,you will not be disturbed. If, for example, you are fond of a specific ceramic cup, remind yourself that it is only ceramic cups in general of which you are fond. With regard to whatever objects give you delight, are useful, or are deeply loved, remember to tell yourself of what general nature they are, beginning from the most insignificant things. In chapter three of The Enchiridion, Epictetus uses this exact cup analogy to suggest how we might view the temporary nature of all things. We all know that cups break and even though we got the mug at a Disney benefit and it had a smiling Mickey Mouse face, we know that it was merely a vesicle for our beverages, not a umbilical link for our memory of the event. It’ll disappoint my wife momentarily that the mug is gone, but it won’t really sadden her. I shouldn’t blame them though, I could just as easily bang it on the sink as I wash it or drop it on the floor while drying it. My guess is that my daughters will break it as they make homemade tea (note: if you ever visit and they try to serve you something they made you may want to politely decline, especially if you see grass or leaves floating in it).
It always feels good to contribute to charities and be part of a moment of goodwill and the cup serves as a symbol of this event. We went to a benefit for the charity Give Kids the World, a group that raises money to support charities that want to send kids to Orlando and its attractions.
There is the Starbucks mug which was once filled, temporarily with coffee. There is the oversized Mickey and Minnie Mouse mugs we won in a silent auction. There is the black set we have that match the plates we registered for when my wife and I were married.
There is the white set we got as a set of hand me downs that work well for day to day use. How many mugs must a person have? We have many.
0 kommentar(er)
