Don't Hide From Your Feelings

December 8th, 2021

It's better to conquer grief than to deceive it.

- Seneca in On Consolation to Helvia, 17.1b

The suppressing of emotions has long been a stereotype of Stoicism, but what we have learned is that Stoic philosophy is really about acceptance, processing and negotiating our emotion… immediately. Putting Stoicism into everyday practice will still be a challenge. Notably for someone who was has spent most of his adult life in the midwest.

Conclusion

Today's exercise is especially important to me. Learning to grieve immediately is a valuable lesson. The faster we accept the loss, the faster we can mourn and recover. It almost feels callous to write this out like we are a machine. That is not the intention, but this outlook more of a map of the route to take to recovery.