Scott Perry explains Stoicism as a Hellenistic and Roman philosophy built on the idea that humans are rational and social beings. Cultivating reason increases virtue and character, which leads to equanimity, peace of mind, and sustained joy.
what you need to know about Stoicism for the purposes of this workshop is that when we talk about stoicism, we're not talking about the common English usage with a small s, which is this idea of chin up, grim determination, persevering grimly and committedly through all of life's challenges. Stoicism as a philosophy with a capital S is an ancient philosophy that comes from the Hellenistic world, started in Greece, moved over to Rome. That begins with the idea that there are a couple things that are true of all humans. We are inherently social creatures and that we are born with and have the capacity for reason. Doesn't mean that we always act reasonably because we don't, but we have the capacity to reason. And if we cultivate that capacity for reason and employ our innate creativity in our social engagements and in our engagements throughout the world, that we can increase virtue, which you can think of it as the content of your character. You can develop yourself and become a better person, the kind of person that doesn't get upset and dragged around by their desires or by the challenges that they face on a day-to-day basis. And that whatever is happening in your life, in the world, that you can be experiencing a consistent sense of equanimity, cultivating peace of mind, and that you can actually sustain joy through all of life's victories and vicissitudes.
Stoics Don't Suppress Emotions, They Do This Instead #stoicism #emotionalintelligence #mindset
