💀 Dying Every Day
The Dying Every Day series delivers guided Stoic meditations on the art of living. Each meditation provides a quote, a selected passage, and a journaling prompt to consider. These meditations are designed to help you (and me) reflect on what it means to live a ‘good’ life.
The ‘Truth’ of Connection
“Nothing is good or bad for us alone: we live in common. Nor can anyone live happily if he only cares for his own advantage. You must live for another if you would live for yourself. This fellowship, maintained with special care and respect, unites humanity as a whole…”
— Seneca, Letter 48
Selected Passage
In this week’s Dying Every Day meditation, we’re exploring the art and wisdom of connection — through a selected passage from Marcus Aurelius.
Keep reminding yourself of the way things are connected, of their relatedness. All things are implicated in one another and in sympathy with each other. This event is the consequence of some other one.
Things push and pull on each other, and breathe together, and are one. …
Everything is interwoven, and the web is holy; none of its parts are unconnected. They are composed harmoniously, and together they compose the world.
One world, made up of all things. One divinity, present in them all. One substance and one law—the logos that all rational beings share.
And one truth…
If this is indeed the culmination of one process, beings who share the same birth, the same logos. […]
+ Adapted from Meditations (6.38 & 7.9)
Reflection Exercise
Why do we forget about the ‘truth’ of connection? Strangely, we need consistent reminders about all sorts of eternal truths (e.g., mortality, impermanence, etc.). As Marcus Aurelius advised, “Meditate often on the interconnectedness and mutual interdependence of all things in the universe.”
How might your life change if you consistently remembered the ‘truth’ of connection? How would it influence how you see yourself, others, and the world around you?
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Thank you for reading; I hope you found something useful.
Until next time, be wise and be well,
J.W.
P.S. New here? Catch up on previous volumes in the archive!