The Daily Stoic - There is Heaven in You Now | Show, Don’t Tell

Episode Date: May 2, 2022

Ryan talks about the power of turning inward, and reads this week’s meditation from The Daily Stoic Journal.Get a signed copy of Ryan Holiday’s bestselling book “Stillness is The Key” at the Painted Porch.Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: https://DailyStoic.com/emailFollow us: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, and FacebookSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stoke Podcast early and add free on Amazon music. Download the app today. Welcome to the Daily Stoke Podcast. Each day we bring you a meditation inspired by the ancient Stokes, illustrated with stories from history, current events, and literature to help you be better at what you do. And at the beginning of the week, we try to do a deeper dive, setting a kind of stoic intention for the week, something to meditate on, something to think on, something to leave you with, to journal about, whatever it is you happen to be doing.

So let's get into it. There is heaven in you now. As winter slowly releases her icy grasp as the surge of the pandemic recedes, perhaps you're starting to think of the glories of spring, of the return to the wonderful normal of your own life. Maybe you're thinking of a trip, an exotic location, or a long stay at a luxurious resort. That would be heaven, you think. Marcus Aurelius craved this too, you know, working every day in the grime, in grit of Rome, surrounded by the bustle and noise of the court overloaded by business and demands, of course he did. He longed to get away from it all. He writes to the country, to

the beach, to the mountains. But then he reminds himself he can get away any time he did. We long to get away from it all. He writes to the country, to the beach, to the mountains. But then he reminds himself he can get away anytime he likes. I turn it inward. There is heaven in you now. Nowhere you can go is more peaceful. He writes more free of interruptions than your own soul. Hopefully the spring is beautiful. Hopefully the worst of the pandemic is behind us.

Hopefully, you can take that much deserved vacation. But why wait? You can experience paradise right now by closing your eyes, by retreating to the stillness and the heaven that lives inside you. It's the idea of stillness finding peace and beauty and wonder amidst the craziness and ugliness of the world. That's, of course, what stillness finding peace and beauty and wonder amidst the craziness and ugliness of the world.

Of course, what stillness is the key is about. I have it tattooed here on my right wrist as a reminder. But if you haven't checked out the book, I do hope you will. It's something I'm very, very proud of. Debuted number one in the New York Times, Westseller list. But is this something I've had to, the ideas in it or something I've had to turn to a lot over the last two crazy years. And I hope you will too. You can get signed copies of Stillness is the key in the Daily Stoke store. You can also stop by the painted porch. And I have signed copies here as well. And you can pick up the book anywhere books are sold as well.

So Stillness is the key. I'm wishing that you access that little bit of heaven inside you as a market did right now by turning inward. Celebrity feuds are high stakes. You never know if you're just gonna end up on Page Six or Du Moir or in court. I'm Matt Bellasai. And I'm Sydney Battle and we're the host of Wonder E's new podcast Disantel, where each episode we unpack a different iconic celebrity feud from the build-up, why it happened, and the repercussions. What does our obsession with these feud say about us? The first season is packed with some pretty messy pop culture drama, but none is drawn out in personal as Brittany and Jamie Lynn Spears.

When Brittany's fans form the free Brittany movement dedicated to fraying her from the infamous conservatorship, Jamie Lynn's lack of public support, it angered some fans, a lot of them. It's a story of two young women who had their choices taken away from them by their controlling parents, but took their anger out on each other. And it's about a movement to save a superstar, which set its sights upon anyone who failed to fight for Britney. Follow Disenthal wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music or the Wondering App.

Show, don't tell. And this is from this week's entry in the Daily Steal of Journal 366 days of writing and reflection on the art of living by yours truly and my co-writer and translator, Steve Enhancelman. I actually do this journal every single day. There's a question in the morning, a question in the afternoon, and then there's these sort of weekly meditations. As Epictetus says, every day and night, we keep thoughts like this at hand, write them, read them aloud, and talk to yourself and others about them. You can check out the Daily Stalk Journal, anywhere books are sold., and also get a signed personalized copy from me

in the Daily Stoke store, at store.dailystoke.com. The art of living isn't a set of teachings or a formula we can memorize. It's a practice that requires constant work. Epic Titus was constantly reminding his students not to pair it back with they learned in the lecture hall or read in books, but to put that work into practice. He knew that progress you could see was better than

any proclaimed. Let your journaling and thinking this week exhibit what you have done and what you are doing, not what you plan to do or think you are. Let it be a catalog of your actions, good actions. As Epictetus says, those who receive the bear theories immediately want to spew them as an upset stomach does with its food. First, digest your theories and you won't throw up. Otherwise, they will be raw, spoiled, and not nourishing. After you've digested them, show us the changes in your reasoned choices, like the shoulders of gymnasts who display their diet and training and the craft of artisans show what they have learned. That's Epictetus's Discourses 321. First practice, not letting people know who you are, keep your

philosophy to yourself for a bit. In just the manner that fruit is produced, the seed is buried for a season hidden, growing gradually, so it may come to full maturity. But if the grain sprouts before the stock is fully developed, it will never ripen. That is the kind of plant you are displaying fruit too soon, and the winter will kill you. You know, this is a theme the Stokes talk about quite a bit. The idea of conceit being the impediment to improvement that ego is the enemy. And, you know, when I look back, you know, I first introduced the Stokes now like 15 or so years ago, I look back at some of my early writings and I'm doing exactly what Epic deed is this talk about.

I'm just regurgitating things that I'd heard. I mean, that exercise itself was was educational, but I didn't even begin to comprehend what I was talking about. It took time, it took experience, as Plutarch says, it's not that words that give us the experience, the meaning of experiences, but experiences that give us meaning of the words. And so I wish I'd taken a bit more time. Now, this is obviously what some of these social media and blogging platforms do. It's a way of thinking out loud, but I actually wish I'd taken more sort of quiet, reflective time to myself. And I think we do this whenever we discover something, we get some product we like or join a movement or a cause we like.

And suddenly we become this evangelist for it. And I think part of that is out of insecurity, right? We want other people to like it. We don't, we're not quite sure what we think of it ourselves. So by bringing other people on, we feel less insecure. We go, see, I'm not crazy. Other people like it too. But let's just slow down a little bit. If you're listening to this podcast for the first time,

if you're new to stoicism, let it stew a little bit. Think about it a little bit. Look at it critically. Go read more about it, right? Find people who love stoicism, people who hate stoicism, consume it in different mediums. But just explore it. You don't have to convert. You don't have to identify yet.

Just keep thinking. Let it remain underground. Let it germinate. let it solidify there. And then when it comes out, it'll be in better shape and in better form. And so as you work on your practice, you don't have to put on errors. Epicetus talks about this. Don't put on errors about yourself improvement. He says, be humble about it.

I definitely wish there was things that I hadn't said that I thought about longer that I took time to think about privately more. And that's probably most of my regrets on any social media platform is I jumped, I leapt out with my opinion instead of sitting on it, doing on it, thinking, letting it germinate. And I think that process is just really valuable. So slow down, that's the advice of this week's meditation. Slow down, think, really mull it over, turn it over in your mind, and the plant will be stronger for it.

You will be stronger for it. Your wisdom will be better for it. That's what we're working on. Anyways, stay at it. Keep listening. I'll talk to you again next week. Hey, it's Ryan. Thank you for listening to the Daily Stood Podcast. I just wanted to say we so appreciate it. We love serving you. It's amazing to us that over 30 million people have downloaded these episodes in the couple years. We've been doing it. It's an honor. Please spread the word,

tell people about it. And this isn't to sell anything, I just wanted to say thank you. Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to the Daily Stoic Early and Add Free on Amazon Music, download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen early and add free with Wondery Plus in Apple podcasts. them from the ground up. Guy has sat down with hundreds of founders behind well-known companies like Headspace, Manduka Yoga Mats, Soul Cycle, and Kodopaxi, as well as entrepreneurs working to solve some of the biggest problems of our time, like developing technology that pulls energy from the ground to heat in cool homes, or even figuring out how to make drinking water from air and sunlight. Together, they discuss their entire journey from day one, and all the skills they had

to learn along the way, like confronting big challenges, and how to lead through uncertainty. So if you want to get inspired and learn how to think like an entrepreneur, check out how I built this, wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen early and add free on the Amazon or Wonder yet. your podcasts. You can listen early and add free on the Amazon or Wonder yet.