My Stoic Thoughts: Day Two Stoic Week 2020

Stoic Week 2020

Tuesday, October 20th, 2020

Theme:  Happiness

Stoic happiness, or eudaimonia, is understood as the overall goal or purpose of your life rather than a feeling.  Eudaimonia is more stable because it is entirely dependent one what we can control rather than determined by outside force.  It adds meaning to our lives and gives it direction.  No matter what life throws at us, we can continue to work toward a happy and meaningful life.  It adds consistency in all we do, even when the world is inconsistent, and it focuses us on what is truly good and within our reach.  Furthermore, since it is a goal of life it is an internal goal rather than an external, which means it can always be pursued and reached.

Eudaimonia can be expressed in many aspects of our lives.  For myself it is through my calling as a therapist, my roles as a partner, mother, colleague, caring friend, and my interests in books, all that is geek, and of course philosophy.  The core values that hold them all together and are an expression of my eudaimonia include empathy, understanding, non-judgement, deep caring for others, wisdom and intelligence, problem solving and critical thinking, a love of learning/knowledge/wisdom for its own sake and to help myself and others, encouraging others to live their best lives with authenticity and equanimity, and a focus on the well-being of myself and others.  All these traits are my path to eudaimonia.

The Stoic idea of happiness can be incredibly helpful during a pandemic.  The pandemic has shown to be unpredictable and inconsistent; affecting many externals that bring us the feeling of happiness (like comicons and playing sports then getting dinner with friends).  However, if we lean on our goal for life during a pandemic our happiness need not change.  It is 100% in our control.  I have been able to maintain my eudaimonia by reading many books, learning Finnish, pursuing certifications to grow in my career and excellence as a sex and relatinship therapist, and worked from home to continue to care for my family, myself, and my clients.  Since my happiness is not determined by externals I can better maintain equanimity and calme when the pandemic and Stoic gods throw me a challenge, like last minute crisis/remote learning.  Thinking of happiness as how I conduct myself means that happiness is alway within my reach and under my control, no one else’s.  I am free.

Imagining that the pandemic is over the values that I want to have lived by are understanding, empathy, kindness, flexibility, and love.

(This is a brief summary of my thoughts inspired by prompts during Stoic Week and do not fully encompass everything on Stoic happiness during a pandemic.  I highly encourage you to learn more, leave comments, and add to this conversation!)