Stoic Week
How I experienced it last year (6 to 12 November, 2023)
If you discover in human life something better than justice, truth, self-control, courage - in short, something better than the self-sufficiency of your own mind which keeps you acting in accord with true reason and accepts your inheritance of fate in all outside your choice: if, as I say, you can see something better than this, then turn to it with all your heart and enjoy this prime good you have found.’
Aurelius’ Meditations 3.6, as translated by Hammond, 2006
The aim of Stoic Week - held annually - is to give people an opportunity to apply Stoic principles in their lives, then evaluate how useful doing so is for them. _______________________________________________________________________
2023 Stoic Week
I attended Stoic Week for the first time last year. It was an unforgettable experience, and I still benefit from what I learnt then, today.
The Stoic Week Handbook for the year 2023, the theme of which was Stoicism and Well-Being, had something of a pattern for each day of the week. There was a morning quote, an exercise, a lunchtime card, an evening quote, as well as an opportunity to reflect on the day, paying particular attention to how one did in applying Stoic principles.
In addition, there were audio files, links to videos and other media, and an opportunity for discussion on Learn Modern Stoicism.
On Monday, the focus was on Control. An important quote given for the day is what Epictetus said about being mindful of what is within our power and what is not - the dichotomy of control.
Tuesday's topic was Emotions. Advice was given about reframing one’s view of events and experiences, so as to maintain equanimity in the face of situations which could result in overwhelming emotions (what the Stoics called Passions).
On Wednesday, the topic was something Stoics consider to be of supreme importance: Virtue. The Stoic virtues - namely, Wisdom, Courage, Temperance, and Justice - are all that is necessary (from the Stoic perspective) for leading a good life. A good life is not one in which one experiences the most pleasure or accumulates a wealth of goods, but one in which a person develops their character. And this character development happens by improving the extent to which one can (and does!) exercise Stoic virtues.
Thursday’s topic was Caring. Hierocles (*) described a person as being at the centre of concentric ‘circles of concern’. The image was meant to indicate that a person naturally cares for oneself, one’s family and friends, and people physically close to oneself more than those who are more distant. The Stoic ideal, however, is to expand one’s circles, thereby bringing those who are distant closer to oneself through increasing one’s degree of concern for their well-being.
On Friday, participants were meant to practise seeing the bigger picture: looking outside oneself, acknowledging that maybe one’s own experiences and thoughts are not as important as the context in which they occur. We live in a vast universe - expansive both in space and in time - and so what happens to any one individual on the planet pales in comparison to the aeons of time and lightyears of space in which the universe is unfolding.
On Saturday, we were to consider all that we had learnt during the week - the dichotomy of control, how to handle emotions, exercising the virtues, caring for self and others, as well as seeing the bigger picture - to enable us to live well.
On Sunday, we were to build a Stoic toolkit: to increase our degree of self-awareness, and to implement the principles learnt throughout the week to be more Stoic.
The aim was to make use of ‘objective judgement…, unselfish action…, [and] willing acceptance’ with immediate effect so as to live a life in which we flourish. Since Stoicism is not just about an individual improving their lives only - it’s very much outward-looking - it also involves developing and maintaining good social relations, and doing what we can to assist others in their endeavour to flourish as well.
We had three quotes a day, and a behaviour-monitoring record: these helped me to ponder and develop the Stoic Attitudes, both during Stoic Week and thereafter.
Instead of making comments on the questions ’What did I do well?’ and ‘What could I have done differently?’, I rated myself on the extent to which I feel that I had (or had not) lived up to the Stoic virtues that are the most important to me:
Self-determination (not being too dependent on nor too deeply influenced by others),
Open-mindedness (‘...listening to others, considering well what they say’ - from Whitacre’s All Seems Beautiful to Me),
Diligence/prudence,
Light-heartedness,
Consistency,
Responsiveness,
Kindness/Consideration,
Empathy, and
Gratitude.
In order to respond to situations that excite the passions with equanimity, it helps to ‘step back’ internally, to allow for a medium between the occurrence of the event and my experience of it (and, therefore, my response to it).
There were some interesting things mentioned during the morning meditation, such as: consider each day to be a feast, expressing gratitude for what is presented, and taking care not to be too distraught at the hustle and bustle… It was useful to imagine things not going according to plan, and facing set-backs: to ask myself, 'How would a Stoic Sage respond in this situation?'
...Some of the interesting points from the View from Above meditation: consider all of humanity: some people are sad, some people are happy… zoom out in both space and time; consider the speed with which human life passes by, and that we live on a ‘pale blue dot’... Earth’s existence - indeed, that of the entire universe - has a beginning, a middle, and an end…
Stoic Week, for 2024, will run from the 28th of October to the 3rd of November.
Thereafter, you can build a ‘Stoic Toolkit’ of principles you would like to consider and apply - should you decide to attend Stoic Week this year:
https://modernstoicism.com/stoic-week/
I highly recommend it. I intend to compare my experience of it last year, to how I experience it this year.