Two types of holidays

There are at least two types of holidays we can experience. One consists of maintaining the usual activity that we have during the year, replacing work with leisure. But the spirit is the same: filling the day with things to do or social relationships.

The other consists of taking a pause from this activity, a pause with oneself. That is what I did for a week with my husband this summer, fasting in a beautiful and remote village in France. No food for seven days, just water and herbal tea. No children, almost no social interaction, just time for ourselves.

“Why do you do this?” people ask me. 

I enjoy eating, being with friends and family, and yet, once in a while, I need that void - not just from work, but also from social interaction and consumption, including food.

Why I fast

My reasons for this week’s fasting were twofold: first, it’s a way of being in my own company without running away from myself by filling my time with various occupations.

Second, it’s a way of reminding myself of a few simple facts: one, I can go without food for a few days without losing energy; two, over-eating is a societal problem - more people are dying today of over-eating than of hunger; three, many chronic illnesses (diabetes, heart disease, cancer etc.) result from our lifestyle and eating habits - and so fasting is a way of preparing for these and ‘detoxifying’ my body today.

Wherever you go there you are

In one of his Letters to Lucilius (Letter 28), Seneca wonders why it is that, when we feel depressed, we travel to far-off lands or fill our lives with leisure and yet don’t feel any better.

The reason is that we carry ourselves around with us wherever we go, and that “we are running away in our own company.” The only person I will really be spending my life with, whatever the circumstances, is myself.

Fasting reminds us how little we need

The week of fasting is a reminder that I need very little to be in good terms with myself - a bit of physical exercise (walking, cycling), a bit of intellectual stimulation (reading, discussing with a person who shares the same interests). I had nothing else to do - no shopping (for food or other), no preparing meals, no caring for the kids or the house.

Don’t get me wrong - I enjoy these on a day-to-day basis, but I want to be able to be with myself without them.

Benefits of self-restraint

In another letter Seneca refers to the benefits of self-restraint:

Set aside now and then several days during which you will be content with the plainest of food, and very little of it (…) and will ask yourself, “Is this what one used to dread?” It is in times of security that the spirit should be preparing itself to deal with difficult times. […] If you want a man to keep his head when the crisis comes, you must give him some training before it comes. 

(Seneca, Moral Letters 18)

Preparing for harder times is a key Stoic principle. Seneca knew what he was talking about - ill health, exile and political turmoil were all part of his life. They may be part of ours too. But self-restraint also questions our social responsibility as citizens: can the world be a livable place if everyone consumes as I do?

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Flora Bernard co-founded the Paris-based philosophy agency, Thae, in 2013. Flora now works to help organisations give meaning to what they do.

 

 

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