| Chapter 2: Epictetus' Handbook |
[May. 18th, 2006|10:15 pm] |
Okay, so "a few days" turned into about two weeks. I've no excuse, really, so I won't bother giving one. Now, on to the bulk of the post...
Desire and Happiness
It seems reasonable to me that having unfulfilled desires does interfere with one's overall happiness. Not getting the things that one desires makes one miserable and dissapointed, if one truely desires those things, and such misery prevents happiness. All of this seems reasonable, but there is no reliable way to be certain that one will get most things that one could want. The gist of Chapter is that desiring or having aversions to things that aren't in one's power is counterproductive to happiness and should thus be avoided. Additionally, the author recommends that desire and aversion be avoided altogether if one cannot... I'm not sure at this point whether the author means if one doesn't yet have the skill to obtain what is ultimately under one's control or whether he means if one doesn't yet really understand what is and isn't under one's control The translation is kinda vague. Maybe I should find another translation, in the hope that it will be clearer. I'm very, very vaguely acquainted with a guy on a listserv who recently published a book on The Handbook. I could try ordering a copy of that too, maybe. The trouble with translated Greek texts, other than the fact that the translations are usually very dry, is that Greek sometimes doesn't translate well into English.. Oh well, the basic gist seems to be tha tthe author recommends complete desirelessness when what is and isn't obtainable is in doubt (So that one may avoid desiring unobtainable things.) Caution is recommended when one must, for practical reasons, persue or aviod things, lest one set oneself up for disappointment by losing one's sense of detachment.
Once again , all of this is much easier said than done. It is almost as difficult to stop yourself from desiring things that seem appealing as it is to stop yourself from being adverse to , well, things that seem like things you'd want to avoid.
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| Serious postingsvs. attempts at (very)dry humor |
[May. 17th, 2006|02:29 pm] |
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For awhile, I thought that, as an attempt at dry humor, I would use the Fredricksburg bus system as a consistent example of a non-preferred indifferent thing in my utterly unimportant expostulations on Epictetus' Handbook. As time went on, however, I realized that the idea was kinda dumb and, most importantly, wouldn't have stayed funny over time. Jokes have never exactly been my forte. So, I intend to proceed seriously. Being serious, or maybe taking serious things seriously but also in stride, is one of the things that I am best at, after all. After all, there's nothing wrong with taking serious things seriously. All of the best poetry and fiction, and even the best humor, deals with serious themes in one way or another. Its relavance is part of what makes it good. |
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| Correction |
[Apr. 30th, 2006|03:15 pm] |
Oops, I just reread my entry and discovered that I badly butchered the author's name. It is Epictetus. Sorry about that. The mistake has been corrected.
Erika
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| Commentary: "The Enchiridion", Chapter 1 (as translated by Thomas Wentworth Higginson) |
[Apr. 28th, 2006|07:46 pm] |
"There are things which are within our power, and there are things which are beyond our power. Within our power are opinion, aim, desire, , aversion, and, in one word, whatever affairs are our own. Beyond our power are body, property, reputation, office, and, in one word, whatever are not properly our affairs."
Ah, the things I read while riding the bus to and from Fredricksburg... The last two times, I pulled out my copy of Epictetus' The Enchiridion because I thought that it would be prudent to remind myself of basic common sense. That really helps sometimes when my husband is gone and the people and things around me start to get on my nerves. It's one thing to intellectually know that you really would be better off if you kept yourself from becomming excessively attached or adverse to things that are completely and utterly beyond your control, but it's another, and much more difficult, thing entirely to actually pull off the trick. It can be extremely soothing sometimes to hear what you're trying to convince yourself of from someone else, even if you are really reading it instead of hearing it and even if he is long dead.
Reminding yourself that things that are not you really have nothing to do with you can be so helpful in living one's daily life. It helps with practical things, like keeping one's temper when the other people around you are being pains... The fact that the bus driver is rude and plays an extremely non-preferred (little Stoic jargon joke there... IMO the school's biggest flaw just might be that it is too jargon-happy) radio station at a very non-preferred and loud volume really has nothing to do with you, and it is only bothering you because you are letting it. The obvious solution is to stop letting it, and the situation will cease to bother you. Once again, this is easier said than done.
And furthermore, there's no point in being bothered by the situation. It's a major waste of effort on your part that only brings you unnecessary grief, because there's no way you can change the bus driver, or the situation. When it comes down to it, no matter how much you are bothered by or complain about the situation, only the bus driver can change the bus driver's unpleasant demeanor, after all. And as for the radio station, the bus driver (the one with the unpleasant demeanor who is likely to be deaf to your pleas anyway) is the one who is closest to the radio dial. Theoretically, you could try to change the station, but it probably would only get you thrown off the bus. Alternatively, you could try to convince the bus driver to change the station, but chances are, she won't. The radio station and the bus driver are therefore not in your power to change. Allowing yourself to become unduly upset by them will just ruin your (hopefully) otherwise pleasantly serene state of mind, and will just generally get your day off to a bad start.
My next posting, which will hopefully be made in a few days, will be about chapter 2, and will likely also include examples from Fredricksburg's (not so) glorious bus system. |
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| Meaningful posting |
[Apr. 28th, 2006|06:59 pm] |
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Jan, alright, I'll post something in earnest, but you should know me well enough to not expect me to just unthinkingly list my day out for everyone to read or bare my soul, so to speak, before an indefinite number of strangers. So, you'll have to content yourself with potentially boring stuff, like my commentaries on things I'm reading. |
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| Something |
[Apr. 17th, 2006|10:05 pm] |
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S...O...M...E...T...H...I...N...G!!! |
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| Promised Journal Entry |
[Apr. 15th, 2006|06:58 pm] |
See, Jan, I did eventually make a posting... I could just leave it at this, you know. It would be at least mildly amusing, to have the LiveJournal account that you've been poking at me to get all this time, and to have finally posted... just to say, "Okay, I've posted now. Bye." It is tempting, but you'd kick my a$$ the next time you saw me. Sigh, that means I actually have to post something. Darn...
;-) |
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