Okay, so today I decided to really dive into this whole “stoicism on death” thing. It’s been on my mind lately, you know, with everything going on in the world. So I figured, why not explore it and see if it helps me deal with, well, the inevitable.
Facing the Inevitable
I started by, just, thinking. I mean, really thinking about death. Not in a morbid way, but more like… acknowledging it. I sat down with a cup of coffee, no phone, no distractions, and just let my mind wander. It was uncomfortable at first, I’m not gonna lie. All those thoughts about what happens after, the fear of the unknown, it all came bubbling up.
Finding Some Stoic Wisdom
Then, I remembered the Stoics. These guys, like Marcus Aurelius and Seneca, they had some pretty solid ideas about dealing with mortality. So I looked up some quotes, some writings, anything I could find online.
I grabed some quotes I really liked, and wrote them down in my notebook. Seeing them on paper, it just made them feel more… real, I guess. It like seeing them in a new light.
- “It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Death is a release from and an end of all pains: beyond it our sufferings cannot extend: it restores us to the peaceful rest in which we lay before we were born.” – Seneca
Putting it into practice
It wasn’t about ignoring the fear, but about accepting it as a natural part of life. One thing that I found helpful was the idea of focusing on the present, on living a good life now, instead of worrying about what might happen *’s not like I magically became fearless, but it did shift my perspective. I found myself feeling a bit more… grounded.
After, I took some time to reflect on what I’d learned. I jotted down some notes in my journal, just my raw thoughts and feelings. I felt, less scary, more control.
So, yeah, that was my day exploring stoicism and death. It’s definitely a work in progress, but I feel like I’m on the right *’s a journey, not a destination, right? And honestly, just taking the time to think about it, to confront it head-on, that felt like a victory in itself.
