The Way – Practical Poetry Inspired by Stoicism
The Way – Practical Poetry Inspired by Stoicism
Volume I Topics: Philosophy, Being a Part of the Whole, Death, Community, Cooperation, The Good Life, Being Wronged, Judgments, Empathy, Perception, Externals, Loans, Happiness, Outcomes, Perfection, Vicissitudes, Improvement, Self–Examination, Morality, The Daimon, Desires, Logic, Responding, Attention, Assenting, What Is Up To Us, Training, Vexation, Self-Inflicted Suffering, Practice, Reflection
Volume II Topics: Stillness, Physics, Providence, What Is Good, Living In Accordance With Nature, On Volition, Co-Creating Fate, Preconceptions, Attunement, The Watcher, Self-Talk, Mortality, Luck, Gratitude, Aversions, Worry, Hope, Premeditatio Malorum, Anxiety, Persistence, Praxis, Passions, Being Liked, The Behavior Of Others, Appearing Foolish, Complaining, Courage, Justice, Temperance, The Reserve Clause, The Size Of Problems
There are currently two volumes in the series, and each volume contains 31 poems. Each poem is made up of 7 haikus.
Poems explore topics such as mortality, persistence, courage, justice, temperance, the size of problems and more (full list of topics below).
My poetry is inspired by the philosophy of traditional Stoicism, which emphasizes our oneness with the cosmos; encourages focusing attention on what is in our control while accepting and utilizing scenarios brought around by what is not up to us; places immense value on moral improvement; and helps us to live well every day by respecting the fact that each of us will be equalized in death.
I wrote each poem as a reminder to myself about things I was working through at the time, and hope that people are able to find strength in their words.
The spirit of the series is that of reference and encouragement - whether read as one poem each day or all in one sitting, its goal is to show one’s life as a part of a larger whole which extends beyond the self, to inspire progress instead of perfection, and to embolden the reader to improve their moral character daily.
The Way was written while taking inspiration from the Discourses of Epictetus, the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, the Letters and essays by Seneca, the philosophy of Chrysippus, as well as analyses of these and a few other works.