In a World Gone Shallow, In a World Gone Lean | A Simple Way To Measure Our Days

Welcome to the daily stoic podcast, where each day we bring you a stoic inspired meditation designed to help you find strength and insight and wisdom into everyday life. Each one of these episodes is based on the 2,000 year old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women, help you learn from them, to follow in their example, and to start your day off with a little dose of courage and discipline and justice and wisdom. For more, visit dailystoic.com. In a world gone shallow, in a world gone lean, it must have been lonely. Here he was, a lover of poetry and philosophy, of truth and goodness, and what was he surrounded by? By people who loved violence and splendor, fame and money, by people who lusted, who wanted to conquer, who needed to be constantly entertained. There is a weariness to Marcus Aurelius' Meditations because the world wearied him. He writes that the emptiness of bustling processions, the cruelty of the coliseum, the superficiality of things people chased and coveted. Like us, Marcus Aurelius lived in the real world, not Plato's republic as he reminded himself. He was surrounded by shallow people, people who missed the point, people who, lacking meaning, distracted themselves with pleasure. And yet, he worked hard not to let this weariness wear on him, not to let him make him angry and mean, or to give in to the temptations of the mom. He got outside. He got up early while the day was still fresh and young, and Rome seemed fresh and pure. He immersed himself in nature. He cultivated simplicity, not the superficial kind, but the kind rooted in first principles. Converse with the ancients, he cherished great art. He was a towering example of greatness and leadership and wisdom. As frustrating and disappointed as he sometimes got, he tried not to give up on people, or let them, as she wrote, implicate him in their ugliness. And today, in our own imperial but decaying world, we must follow these same practices. Shallowness and cruelty and stupidity may be rampant, but we must resist it. Resist it without bitterness or despair, by being bright lights in a dark time. Marcus Aurelius' Meditations is not meant to be another book on your shelf, but a constant companion in your own education, your own effort to resist the shallowness and chaos of modern life. That's what I think when I hold our leather edition or if you've ever seen me in the podcast, I reach behind me, I grab it off the shelf. Something about it. Right? You're doing what Marcus did, stepping away from the noise, connecting to timeless wisdom, fortifying yourself for the day ahead. It's it's it's on my nightstand for a reason. When it's been a long day and I wanna enter a different world, that's the book I reach for. The idea is, you know, not just the content, but the weight of the leather, …