Dear Fellow Traveler,
Seneca’s message this week is simple—but uncomfortable: the problem isn’t out there. It’s in us. This letter is about seeing clearly, taking responsibility, and beginning the work of change.
If you want to explore it further, consider listening to the latest episode of Dying Every Day, titled “I Commanded Myself,” which is also inspired by Seneca.
Be wise and be well this week!
J.W.
🏛️ Sundays with Seneca
Sundays with Seneca is a weekly series exploring the writings (and Stoic philosophy) of Lucius Annaeus Seneca. Each meditation delivers a contemporary interpretation of one of Seneca’s letters, accompanied by a reflection exercise. *** This series is exclusive to members.
You are the problem (and the cure)
Letter 50, On our blindness and its cure
I received your letter long after you sent it, so I didn’t bother asking the messenger what you were doing. By now, I hope I can answer that question myself—no matter where you are.
For what else should you be doing except improving yourself daily? Setting aside one fault at a time? Beginning to see that the problems you blame on your circumstances are actually within you?
We like to blame the place. The time. The situation. But our faults travel with us. No change of location will leave them behind.
You know the jester in my household. She has recently gone blind. What’s remarkable is not the blindness itself—but that she doesn’t know it. She keeps asking to be moved, insisting that her room is too dark.
What seems amusing in her is exactly what happens to us.
No one admits, “I am greedy.” No one says, “I am ruled by desire.”
Instead, we explain it away:
“I’m not ambitious—it’s just how the world works.”
“I’m not indulgent—life is just expensive.”
“I’m not unstable—I’m just young.”
The blind ask for a guide.
We wander without one—convinced we can see.
The Problem Is Within You
Why do we deceive ourselves like this?
The problem is not external. It is within us—deep in our own nature. That is why it is so difficult to cure: we don’t realize we are sick.
And if we have not even begun treatment, when will we be free?
