My Stoic Thoughts: Day Four Stoic Week 2020

Stoic Week 2020

Thursday, October 22nd, 2020

Theme:  Community

Today’s theme for Stoic Week, Stoicism during a Pandemic, was one that focused on a sort of meditative practice of our relationships to others.  That being said, practice doesn’t translate to paper…er blogging quite as well as previous themes.  However, here are some of the things I contemplated during these exercises today.

It is in our nature to love and care for others.  It starts at birth with our parents and grows toward other family, friends, partners, and co-workers.  Bit it need not end at the relationships we are directly involved in.  Stoic practice can help us to expand our love to others – neighbors, strangers, our community, city, state, country, and the world and those in it as a whole.

During a pandemic, when social distancing is required, quarantining may happen and we are generally isolated from the outside world, it is still possible to express love and affection to others.  We can reach out to our distant loved ones, wear a mask when we need to go out, practice kindness, patience, understanding, and flexibility with those we interact with, and be wise in our words with others when we reach out virtually.  Caring for others need not require the other to be present at all.  We can care for others by staying home when sick, donating to those in need, and buying only what we need.  A pandemic may provide us with the opportunity to love more widely than we had before it shook up the world.

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