Try To Stay in the Bubble

“To fight the pandemic, we engaged in what you might call the largest forced lifestyle experiment in human history. We traveled less. We ate out less. We tightened our social circles. We spent more time at home. We stayed in at night with our family, instead of going out.”Ryan explains why we should come out of the pandemic stronger than we were before. Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: http://DailyStoic.com/signupFollow us: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, and FacebookSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. 📢 Share | ⚙️ Manage Subscription

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:04Ryan Holiday?

  Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, where each day we bring you a passage of ancient wisdom designed to help you find strength, insight, and wisdom in everyday life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2,000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at DailyStoic.com.

• 0:26Ryan Holiday?

  Try to stay in the bubble. To fight the pandemic, we engaged in what you might call the largest forced lifestyle experiment in human history. We traveled less, we ate out less, we tightened our social circles, we spent more time at home, we stayed in at night with our family instead of going out. It was tough in many ways. It had economic implications and mental health implications, too. And as strange and frustrating and as abnormal as it was, there was another part of us that noticed positive improvements. We weren't as busy, we had time, so much time. We felt things we hadn't felt in years, got into a groove that hadn't been there for a long time.

• 1:09Ryan Holiday?

  This is because the bubble we went into to limit transmission of the virus was quite close to the smooth flow of life and living in accordance with nature that the Stoics had long talked about. In fact, it was closer to our primal state of being, being rooted in one place, the family unit, neighbors helping neighbors, and awareness of your surroundings, the common cause. And now, as cases drop precipitously, there will be temptation for life to go back to normal, for you to abandon the bubble you have created. Pause before you do that. Which parts of this slower, stiller life are worth protecting? What did you stop doing this year that doesn't need to be resumed?

• 1:50Ryan Holiday?

  What did you start doing out of necessity that's worth continuing? What would life look like with more purpose in it? What could you accomplish with clearer priorities? It's good that we're coming out of this, but let's make sure we emerge from it better than we were when we went into it. Of course, this is what I wrote Stillness is the Key about, which came out in the fall of 2019. I had no idea what was in store, but I think that book held up well. I've heard from so many people who read it during the pandemic. I had to really stick to the teachings myself, as challenging as it was over the last year. You can check out Stillness is the Key, which debuted at number one on the New York Times Bestseller List, one of the books I'm proudest of anywhere books are sold, and we have signed copies in the Daily Stoic store at stuart.dailystoic.com.