The meaning of life 

“What is the meaning of life?” I asked my friend Jan. 

“Oh, that’s easy,” she shot back. “We’re here to love God, love each other, and eat pie.” 

Jan’s words carry weight because she knows a thing or two about adversity—having been rendered blind by a botched childhood surgery, going on to earn a masters in psychology from a world class university, and practicing as a sought-after therapist. She was a pioneer activist for disability rights, and her work continues to support accessibility and inclusion for all. Oh, and she is married to a man who is deaf and blind. 

What do the Stoics say? 

The Stoic analog to her pithy summation is “Live in accordance with nature, be a citizen of the world, and love or positively engage with everything that happens “(amor fati). Right now is the time for us to practice this mental hygiene. 

Feeding our anxiety 

Do I even have to say what we are all scared about? Like a Skinnerian rat I now read the New York Times front page countless times a day amplifying the dread and worst-case scenarios that are playing on an endless loop in my head. I went to Trader Joes to stock up on canned goods and other non-perishables. All I could find among the empty shelves were a can of corn, some weird flavor of hummus, and tons of cheese. 

At this unique moment when uncertainty is the norm, how might we practice our fundamental Stoic principles to root ourselves in clearsighted effectiveness for the benefit of our own serenity and to spur a positive “contagion” of the same for those around us? 

Nature flourishers despite COVID-19 

I take living in accordance with nature as an injunction to remember and return to wonder, to which we always have access. To reduce panic, get outside in nature itself. Nature abides, regenerates, and flourishes despite plagues, cancer, war, or COVID-19. And it irrepressibly conjures “senseless” beauty, order, symmetry, and grace. All of these things are enduring and true. They are just as, if not more, real and important than the panic that has overtaken so many. Remember, panic is more contagious and more virulent than any physical virus. 

Support everyone’s welfare 

Being a citizen of the world is an invitation to direct our actions in support of everyone’s welfare over trying to merely protect ourselves and our immediate loved ones. Epictetus declares 

Difficulties are things that show what (who) men are. 

Epictetus, Discourses 1.24 

This is our time to show who we are, and in so doing we restore a measure of calm and dignity to all. 

Engaging positively with life 

How do we positively engage with what life is giving us right now? Jan says it best: “eat pie.” In other words, despite what is going on around us, or even if we are sick ourselves, there is always sweetness to enjoy right at hand. It assumes many forms, but sweetness is right there to embrace and enjoy if we pay attention. 

Present concerns 

In the late 1940s, the great British writer and theologian C.S. Lewis wrote an essay called “On living in an Atomic Age” found in the collection Present Concerns. It couldn’t be more apt today. “This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.” 

Pull together, stay connected, enjoy the pie! 

So, my Stoic friends, let’s “pull ourselves together,” stay connected to one another even while we practice social distancing, and stay safe. And why not enjoy some pie! 

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Sharon Lebell is the author of The Art of Living and is a member of our Advisory Board. 

 

 

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