I have been fortunate enough to travel the world several time and see many wondrous things. But there are also countries I haven’t been to and sights I haven’t seen. One such sight that I had always wanted to see, but never had the opportunity, was the Northern Lights. 

I live in Canada where it is possible to see the Northern Lights but I need to travel far from where I live and, even if I did, there is no guarantee I would see it when I get there. So when Iceland Air offered me a free stop-over in Iceland on my return journey from London after Stoicon 2018, I took it. Even here there was no guarantee that I would get to see it, but my chances were better and I didn’t have to travel far from Reykjavik. 

On the day I landed in Reykjavik, I went to see it and, to my pleasant surprise, there it was in full force. It was a spectacular sight. If you have not seen it, the cover of the magazine should give some idea of how brilliant the display is. 

We live in a spectacular world. Epictetus called this “the festival of life” and challenged us with this: 

Why don’t you enjoy the feast and the pageant with others when is given to you to do so? 

“Wait a minute,” you may object. “Not everyone is fortunate enough to live in Canada or to get to go Iceland. Where is the festival of life for them?” 

A fair objection. 

The reality is that, for Stoics, everyday is a festival, wherever they are. They don’t have to go anywhere special, see anything special. They see the beauty of ordinary existence everywhere. Listen to Marcus Aurelius: 

A loaf of bread splits open in the oven; random cracks appear on it. These unintended flaws are right and sharpen our appetite. Figs, when they ripen, also crack open. Olives, when they are about to fall just before they decay, appear more beautiful. So are drooping stalks of wheat, wrinkling skin of a staring lion, foam from a wild boar’s mouth, and many more such sights. 

What Marcus was talking about here was not special pleasures open to him as an emperor or about sights that only a privileged few could see. He was talking about bread splitting open, about drooping stalks of wheat and about foam from a wild boar’s mouth— sights that are open to us all. Are we taking the time to see and appreciate the grace and charm that surrounds us? 

The Stoics were so firm in their conviction that even exile couldn’t faze them. When Seneca was exiled to Corsica, he consoled his mother Helvia by saying that it was “just a change of place” and went on to say this: 

Heavenly things by their nature are always in motion…Don’t be surprised, then, if the human mind, which is formed from the same seeds as the heavenly bodies, delights in change and wandering. 

For Seneca, his exile is just ‘change and wandering’ in which the mind takes delight. 

For the Stoics, every sight is full of charm and grace. Every day is a festival. They are at home wherever they are, doing whatever they are doing. 

The festival of life is on right now. 

Are we present? 

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Dr. Chuck Chakrapani Editor-in-Chief

 

 

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