Don’t Forget To Go Home

The busier we get, the more we work, even the more that we learn and read, the further we tend to drift from our center. We get in a rhythm. We’re making money, being creative, we’re stimulated and busy. It seems like everything is going well. But if we’re not careful, those other things grow and grow until they take over completely; and what once felt like a rhythm now feels like a rut. It’s true for us now just as it was true for Marcus Aurelius. He had an awful lot to keep him busy, to distract him, to push him further and further, which in turn afforded him less and less time for that which really mattered to him: philosophy. We get a good sense of how he thought about his priorities with this analogy in Book 6 of Meditations:“If you had a stepmother and a real mother, you would pay your respects to your step mother, yes...but it’s your real mother you’d go home to. The court...and philosophy: Keep returning to it, to rest in its embrace. It’s all that makes the court—and you—endurable.”His point was that you should return to that which nourishes you. Sure, you have to earn a living and contribute to society (or deal with the court or the demands of office, in Marcus’s case). You may have hobbies and other obligations too. That’s perfectly fine. Just remember that those are your step-parents. Important, but they don’t change who made you. Philosophy is the essential, centering pursuit. It challenges us. It requires work and reflection and self-criticism. It requires that we hold ourselves to certain standards and that we hold ourselves to account when we fail to. It’s the real work, not the busy work. Philosophy is what birthed you, raised you, and continues to re-make you as life goes on. Don’t let some momentum in your other pursuits fool you into thinking you no longer need it. It’s home. Make sure you’re paying the proper respects. Make sure you’re going back often, so that today’s rhythm does not become tomorrow’s rut. See 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.

• 0:06Ryan Holiday?

  Welcome to The Daily Stoic, where each day we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living the good 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. Don't forget to go home. The busier we get, the more we work and learn and read, the further we drift. We get into a rhythm. We're making money, we're being creative, we're being stimulated, and we're busy. It seems like everything is going well, but if we're not careful, those other things can grow and grow until they take over completely.

• 0:50Ryan Holiday?

  It's as true for us now, just as it was for Marcus Aurelius. He had an awful lot to keep him busy, to distract him, to push him further and further, to make less and less time for that which really mattered to him: philosophy. And we can get a good sense about what he thought about his priorities with an analogy he makes in Book Six of Meditations: "If you had a stepmother and a real mother, you would pay your respects to your stepmother, yes, but it's your real mother you'd go home to. The court and philosophy keep returning to it, to rest in its embrace. It's all that makes the court and you endurable." His point was that you should return to what nourishes you. Sure, you have to earn

• 1:33Ryan Holiday?

  a living and contribute to society, or deal with the court, or the demands of office in Marcus's case. You may have hobbies and other obligations, too. That's perfectly fine. Just remember that those are your stepparents. Important, but they don't change who made you. Philosophy is the essential pursuit. It challenges us. It requires work and reflection and self-criticism. It requires we hold ourselves to certain standards and own up when we fail to. It's real work, not busy work. Philosophy is what birthed you, raised you, and makes you. Not once, but remakes you as life goes on. Don't let some

• 2:15Ryan Holiday?

  momentum in your other pursuits fool you into thinking you no longer need it. It's home. Make sure you're paying the proper respect. Make sure you're going back often.

• 2:28Ryan Holiday?

  You can leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think. That was Marcus Aurelius's line, one of the most profound quotes in all of Stoicism. If you want to carry this with you always, if you want to wear it on your hand, keep it always at hand, as the Stoics would say. You can now get a Memento Mori Signet ring. We sell it in the Daily Stoic store. Just go to dailystoic.com/store. I'm wearing a Memento Mori Signet ring on my right ring finger right now. I wear it everywhere I go. I can touch it throughout the day. I can touch the skull, the hourglass, the time, the fundamental ingredients of life, this fleeting, fragile existence we all have. We are all mortal. We must remember death.

• 3:13Ryan Holiday?

  We could leave life right now. We should let that determine what we do and say and think. Check out the Memento Mori Signet ring at dailystoic.com/store.