💀 Dying Every Day
Dying Every Day (Stoicism in a Year) is a podcast by the Perennial Leader Project. Each episode turns a selected passage from Stoic philosophy into a guided meditation designed to help you (and me) learn how to live.
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Marcus Aurelius on “seeds” of change
Welcome to another episode of Dying Every Day (Stoicism in a Year). We’ve reached Day 92, and we’re exploring the art of awareness (and change).
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In his Meditations, the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote to himself,
Constant awareness that everything is born from change. The knowledge that there is nothing nature loves more than to alter what exists and make new things like it. All that exists is the seed of what will emerge from it. You think the only seeds are the ones that make plants or children? Go deeper.
+Adapted from Meditations, 4.36
In today’s passage, Marcus highlights the ceaseless nature of change. He uses the seed as an analogy for the idea that we are constantly becoming.
Similarly, the American Trappist monk Thomas Merton suggested,
Every moment and every event of every man’s life on earth plants something in his soul, for just as the wind carries thousands of winged seeds, so each moment brings with it germs of spiritual vitality that come to rest imperceptibly in the minds and wills of men. Most of these unnumbered seeds perish and are lost, because men are not prepared to receive them.
If the moments of our lives are like seeds, then what does it mean to be willing (or open) to transformation? Moreover, how does one maintain a “constant awareness” of change?
Mottos and maxims can be powerful reminders. One that connects with the idea of becoming aware of change is the Latin phrase Nunc Coepi, which translates to “Now I begin.” The Catholic Priest Bruno Lanteri (1759—1830) said, “If I should fall even a thousand times a day, a thousand times, with peaceful repentance, I will say immediately, Nunc Coepi (Now I begin).”
Embracing the ceaseless nature of change is not about the past or the future. It is a life orientation focused on beginning again and again. Seeing each moment of our lives as a seed that deserves attention and cultivation.
Reflecting Prompt
Consider reflecting (or journaling) on the art of awareness and change. You could ask yourself, “How do I typically think about change?” and/or “In what ways can I begin to embrace the maxim ‘now I begin’?”
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Thank you for listening; I hope you found something useful.
Until next time, be wise and be well,
J.W.
P.S. I greatly appreciate your time, attention, and support!
This reflection helped me move into on my journaling and why having an awareness and focus of living in the moment, is a critical aspect of "seeing" the seeds of becoming.