@Malkuth I hope this is a good place for this thread. I thought it fitting as it is the Emperor’s Lounge.
I am new to Stoicism myself. I have listened to dozens of videos on it before but never taken it seriously until now. GLM has put a fire in me for it and I just bought Gregory Hay’s Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations and Ryan Holiday’s The Obstacle is the Way today. The journey has begun.
How would you describe this fire to study stoicism?
Like you suddenly take a deep interest in it and love to study the phillsophy?
I am also new to it and very interested in this philosophy, which I have recently discovered for myself. Thanks to GLM. The wisdom and principles of Stoicism are very good and insightful. I hope I can implement some of them in my life to find peace of mind.
“It is not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” - Epictetus
Lived philosophy vs. Intellectualized philosophy
I’ve more interest in the former, much less in the latter.
And so, I’d wager that (by my particular standards) you actually probably have investigated and learned quite a bit about stoicism. But perhaps just not under that name.
Now as you listen with more rigor and attention to the concepts, you’ll not only be expanding and developing your mental categories and frames, but you’ll (more excitingly to me) also be recognizing and archaeologically excavating the wisdom that you already have.
(That’s just how I like to think about things.)
Exactly mate. 
What current-day authors or speakers of Stoicism do you all follow or read?
I see you’re speed running stoicism last few days hahaha
Vrrrrrrrmmmm 
How, so far, are you relating to the ideas?
Did you know that stoicism was one of the important influences on modern-day Cognitive Behavior Therapy?
That approach (CBT) gets a bad rap sometimes. People sometimes judge it by the times when it’s applied superficially or without nuance and empathy. But it’s actually a brilliant approach. (Seems wrong to judge a tool by the times that it has been used unskillfully.)
One of my favorite parts, of stoicism-influenced practices, is the idea of intentionally courting loss, embarrassment, or so-called hardship. Stepping, intentionally, into the spaces and conditions that we fear, so that when they come calling not by our choice, we have some capacity to handle them.
Our fears often have some good reasons underlying them, so it’s good to exercise judgment and moderation in doing this kind of thing. And it doesn’t have to be so grave and somber as all that.
Wearing weird, funny, or otherwise embarrassing clothes every so often would be an example.
hahaha.
Basically think of everything that a touchy, proud 18 year old would never do in a million years, and make sure to do a few of those things once or twice a month.
A more profound example would be the Memento Mori practices.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about Paying Homage to the Malefics.
All of those archetypes, symbols, and areas of life that have traditionally been blamed and labeled as sources of Misfortune and Ill Luck. Examples from astrology would be Saturn, Mars, Chiron, and Mercury in Retrograde. Examples from mythology and folklore would be gremlins, imps, and mischievous elves. Back to the Memento Mori, another example would be graveyards and the dead, in general. In the Buddhist tradition, we might talk of ‘The Four Sufferings’: Birth, Sickness, Old Age, and Death. In the corporate realm, it might be Negative Performance Reviews and Being Passed Over for Promotion. And the list goes on and on.
These are those parts of life that throw jabs and slaps at the ego. Inviting us to see what can be discovered when we (temporarily at least) transcend the ego a bit.
In Chinese thought, we have the Daoist-like idea from taijiquan of 吃虧. Literally ‘eating loss’. Or sometimes translated as ‘Investing in Loss’.
There’s a nice bit of Stoic beauty.
Right now, I’m reading:
INVINCIBLE: Achieve More, Suffer Less from Marcos Vazquez
…
It combines stoic philosophy with modern psychology, and provides the tools to help you visualize with clarity, act with determination and resist with discipline.
…
I think the book is very well done.
There is a place within every man where storms cannot reach — a still point in the turning world. It is older than any one philosophy…
–From the description: Godlike Masculinity
and
Total Confidence
Confidence is not a gift — it is the sum of every time you chose action over hesitation. You forge it in the doing, layer by layer, until doubt has nowhere to land. You stop waiting for permission, because you have already validated yourself through the work, the endurance, and the victories — small and large — you’ve claimed along the way.
You walk differently when you own yourself. Validation becomes irrelevant, opinions lose their sway, and your value is not on loan to anyone else’s approval. In your career, this confidence moves ahead of you, unforced but undeniable — the quiet power of someone who has nothing to prove because the proof is already in the life they live.
Finally, just made time to read through the whole description.
This is art.
I would highly recommend the movie, Shawshank Redemption.
Not only is it one of the greatest movie of all time but a true example of stoicism in action. No matter what happens to him, tbe protagonist keeps his wits about him to overcome the challenges in his way.
When (or if) you have watched this classic, watch the following youtube video to see how the hero of the Shawshank Redemption employed the philosophy of stoicism in his life and particularly in this phase of his life when he was in prison
