A Letter For Marcus Aurelius
Beginning the journey into Stoicism
The truth is, I didn’t really know what stoicism was like a month ago. My awareness of it and the stoics was minimal and extremely surface level. Philosophy was an all-time favorite class of mine in college, but for some reasons the stoics evaded me.
Now the stoics are staring me right in the face and I cannot ignore them.
“Meditations” are just the personal notes and musings of the late Roman Emporer. However they resonate with me in the moment. Maybe it’s because these writings of mine are similar, introspective thoughts on my own awareness of myself and my journey to lead a virtuous and fulfilling life.
My go-to study flow is to engage in a conversation with ChatGPT or Claude, find a few high quality podcasts on a topic, and then start following some subreddits and newsletters that give differing perspectives on the subject.
This method has served me well the last 18 months or so, especially as the models have gotten better. In this case I’m really slow rolling into Stoicism.
The podcast that’s gripped me is just the audio book of Meditations on Spotify. I find myself listening and re-listening to each book very intently. Some of the lessons or notes are incredibly powerful.
My favorites so far are:
You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength
Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.
What injures the hive, injures the bee
I’m not even sure I’m ready to dive into the true depth and meaning of these concepts. They certainly hit hard.
I’m gravitating to the ones that seem most relevant to my life at this moment, and that’s great. I’m excited about the path I have ahead of me to continue learning and absorbing this philosophy.
Marcus Aurelius is owed my gratitude for his own introspection and observance of the universe and human life from more than 2000 years ago.
With love and deep appreciation,
-Andrew