Welcome to another episode of the Daily Stoic podcast.

On Thursdays, we do double duty, not just reading our daily meditation, but also reading

a passage from the book, The Daily Stoic, 366 meditations on wisdom, perseverance, and the

art of living, which I wrote with my wonderful co-author and collaborator, Stephen Hanselman.

And so today, we'll give you a quick meditation from one of the Stoics, from Epititus Mark

Srelyas, Seneca, then some analysis for me.

And then we send you out into the world to do your best to turn these words into works.

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Are you ready for combat?

It's not for posterity that the Stoics sat with their journals.

It wasn't whiny, self-indulgence either.

They weren't cataloging their achievements or pouring out their fantasies.

They were doing important work.

Many years ago, in a fascinating essay, The Philosopher Foucault described journaling

as a weapon in spiritual combat.

Following Seneca and Epititus as examples, he explains that writing constitutes a test and

a kind of a touchstone.

By bringing to light impulses of thought, it dispels the darkness where the enemy's plots

are hatched.

For the Stoics philosophy wasn't just this thing that you read, nor given the immense difficulty

...