The What Is Stoicism? Podcast

This episode explores two ways of seeing clearly: examining our own judgments up close, and stepping back to see our place in the larger whole.

Stoicism and the Buddhist idea of the “second arrow” meet on the same point—we may not control the first pain, but we often add unnecessary suffering through the judgments that follow.

The practical task is to separate fact from interpretation, accept what has happened, and resist making the wound deeper than it already is.

If you’d like to practice these principles, this Micro Morning Meditation will be helpful:

☀️ Micro Morning Meditation: Watch Out For the Second Arrow
https://whatisstoicism.substack.com/p/micro-morning-meditation-watch-out
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode explores how philosophy can help us notice more of life before it passes.

John O’Donohue and Rilke encourage us to rediscover the beauty of ordinary surroundings, while Seneca asks us to consider how much of our limited time disappears into distraction, busyness, and postponement.

Together, their reflections suggest that living well is not simply about making better use of time, but about being present for the life already unfolding around us.

If you’d like to practice these principles, this Micro Morning Meditation will be helpful:

☀️ Micro Morning Meditation: Nature Awaits Your Appreciation
https://whatisstoicism.substack.com/p/micro-morning-meditation-nature-awaits
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode explores character through two Stoic questions: can you be trusted, and can you act with dignity regardless of your position?

Epictetus argues that every dishonest act damages the person we are trying to become, while Epaminondas shows that dignity comes from how we perform a role, not from the status attached to it.

The Stoic lesson is to judge ourselves less by what we are given and more by how reliably, justly, and honorably we use it.

If you’d like to practice these principles, this Micro Morning Meditation will be helpful:

☀️ Micro Morning Meditation: You Can Give Dignity to Any Office
https://whatisstoicism.substack.com/p/micro-morning-meditation-you-can-1db
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode explores the pressure to find identity and fulfillment through work.

Derren Brown and the Stoics suggest a different approach: your job can matter without defining who you are, and dissatisfaction does not automatically mean your life is going wrong.

Seneca’s reminder that “it does not matter what you bear, but how you bear it” shifts attention toward what remains within our control—our judgment, effort, boundaries, and character.

If you’d like to practice these principles, this Micro Morning Meditation will be helpful:

☀️ Micro Morning Meditation: Where Do You Find Your Sense of Worth?
https://whatisstoicism.substack.com/p/micro-morning-meditation-where-do
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode reflects on Seneca’s question of whether life is still worth choosing when its beauty and suffering come as a package.

In Consolation to Marcia, he sets the marvels of existence—stars, mountains, rivers, forests, love—beside illness, grief, danger, and death, then asks whether we would still agree to enter such a life.

His answer is simple: we would.

If you’d like to practice these principles, this Micro Morning Meditation will be helpful:

☀️ Micro Morning Meditation: You Will Marvel At These Things
https://whatisstoicism.substack.com/p/micro-morning-meditation-you-will

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.