[q-base]

I have started exploring Seneca/stoicism again. Prompted partly by a recent submission here, partly by personal reasons. Instead of consuming other peoples interpretation of stoicism I decided to go as close to the source as feasible for me. I have read Letters from a stoic a number of times before and my copy is filled with highlights, but this time I think I will try to limit myself to one or two letters a day and then really think about them properly.

The first one really hit me hard and prompted me to write out my own thoughts (https://jesperreiche.com/seneca-letter-2/) whether I will keep doing that I am a little unsure. It feels on the border of how personal I want to be/share on my blog.

P.S. I can see the irony in writing about me going to the source instead of consuming other peoples interpretation and then sharing a link to my own interpretation :)

[ravshan]

This reminded me of this post (https://www.reddit.com/r/Stoic/comments/1823mip/). I don't really know what stoicism means but that was hilarious.

[q-base]

Haha I apart from both of them relating to stoicism I am not sure there is much connection. But scrolling through some of the comments on reddit sure made me smile - so thanks for that :)

[jcynix]

Good read thanks. I totally can relate to the choices problem. It's rather easy with physical books (or was, as we have little room left for even more books ;-0) but ebooks are "dangerous" too.

Regarding cameras, it's harder (and more expensive) to wrangle with gear acquisition syndrome (GAS) but after switching from Canon EOS to Fuji, because the Canon stuff was too heavy when hiking, I managed to restrain myself most of the time. Because the question always is whether my images would become better with different gear or with more trial and error.

I opted for trial and error and eagerly watch a selected number of YouTube channels who almost always show me that I should and can improve myself and not my gear.

[q-base]

Thanks a lot! Yes, I agree that it is easier with physical books although even there I can already see that I may be painting myself into a corner. But ebooks are obviously "worse" in that regard. I loved when I found StandardEbooks.org and Gutenberg - all these classic books for free. But over time I have realized that I have so many of them on my kindle and always seems to find new ones rather than finishing existing.

With regards to cameras, I also came to Fuji although from Nikon. But I agree, the important part is getting better at photography and the better you know your camera the more it can become an extension of yourself.

There is just something very alluring about the daydream of having the new camera and taking those "perfect" images. When in fact nothing is keeping me from going out and shooting those "perfect" images with the camera I already have.

[LoveMortuus]

Completely off-topic, but I can't help but share my joy of discovering a fellow motorcycle enjoyer. My ICE propelled two wheel journey started only about a year ago with a 50cc moped, but I've since graduated to 125cc (mostly because I learned that here in Portugal, with the licence for a car, I can drive up to 125cc (in my country the limit is 50cc, which is why I started there)).

The moped was second hand SYM Jet 14, but the 125cc that I got was a brand new Honda CB125F, the very newest of models. It's incredibly fun and since I mostly use it to go to work and back everyday, it's more than enough.

In the post titled "Buying an unseen 1959 Triumph Bonneville T120", at the start there's a typo: "A lot of people wanted Harleys – but for some reason they just did spark anything in me."

This is probably just my personal error, but whenever I see Triumph bikes, I can't help but think about underwear brand Triumph (which are of very high quality, I've got a few, would recommend), I haven't tried any Triumph bikes but I do want to one day!

[q-base]

Thanks a lot for reading! And even going further and reading other posts than the one linked. I have corrected the typo - thank also for pointing that out.

Yes motorcycles are quite the joy! I am glad to hear of your discovery of that fact. I am a bit envious of you being in Portugal as I would expect the weather to allow for driving all year round?

Funny - for me it is the other way round. I always think of bikes even though I of course know of the underwear brand as well :)

[techiferous]

> Instead of consuming other peoples interpretation of stoicism I decided to go as close to the source as feasible for me.

Good for you! Everybody has their own "twist" on Stoicism, and that's fine. You have to find your own twist on it; you have to make it your own.

In my own experience, what is most rewarding and promotes my progress the most, is when I put philosophy into action. Then I get authentic feedback from life about what actually works. It helps me separate mere opinions and good sounding ideas from true insight.

[q-base]

I think you hit the nail on the head here and something else I seem to struggle a bit with. I am very good at reading, thinking, contemplating. But I need to get more out of my head - from lack of better wording. I actually wrote "read less - do more". In my notebook recently. So I could not agree more with what you are saying.

[RagnarD]

Based on some reading in a study group using both the Hays and Waterfield translations, I'd definitely recommend Waterfield over Hays.

[q-base]

Interesting. I have read quite a few translations of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius and also found a clear favorite. But I am actually not even sure which translation of Letters from a Stoic my current book is. I have just always liked the language in it.

[dapperdrake]

Even Seneca and Marcus Aurelius wrote about it. No sweat.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb has a few contemporary takes and tries to connect statistics into stoicism.

[wrongtrousers]

Thanks for the writing and for posting about it here! Found some nice photographs and other content that I'll dig more into later. Liking what I've found so far :)

[q-base]

Thank you very much for your kind words. I think that I have finally reconciled with myself that I will primarily be sharing images on my own website and not social media, even though that may mean that very few people see it. So I am glad to hear you saw some and liked them :)

[throwaway777x]

To me, if you read On the Shortness of Life and take it to heart, you would delete your blog as a waste of time and mental energy.

[q-base]

I get your point. But it depends on how you read it. If I get joy out of writing then I would not consider that a waste :)

[sherlock_h]

Thank you for sharing. The choices piece hit home for me. Forwarded this to friends.

[q-base]

Thank you very much.

[BeetleB]

I hope you get more out of it than I did. I don't recall which of Seneca's work I read several years ago, but to me it was ... meh?

Some of the stuff I strongly agreed with, but I didn't derive value because I already had the mindset. Other stuff I disagreed with, and the book didn't really convince me. Then there was the stuff in between.

Overall, it felt like something you or I could have written - I didn't see something insightful that enlightened me.

Not to take away from your essay, which I thoroughly agree with :-)