This Is How You Get Tranquility
The Daily Stoic
Daily Stoic | Backyard Ventures
4.5 • 5.3K Ratings
🗓️ 12 November 2019
⏱️ 6 minutes
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Summary
Marcus Aurelius said that pain either affects the body or the soul. What’s the difference? “The soul can choose not to be affected, preserving its own serenity, its own tranquillity. All our decisions, urges, desires, aversions lie within. No evil can touch them.” Pierre Hadot’s metaphor for this was the “inner citadel.” Hadot said that Marcus worked to create a soul, a core, an inner fortress that fate, chaos, hysterics, vice, and outside influences could never penetrate or break down.
Ada Palmer—a historian, professor, and novelist—knows the importance of building an inner citadel. In addition to the tummults of academia, publishing, and constant deadlines, Ada is also disabled and suffers from chronic pain. She says that, sounding like Hadot, “Stoicism is about achieving interior tranquillity.” Hadot said that Marcus wrote to himself to strengthen the walls of his citadel, to achieve interior tranquility. In our interview with Ada for DailyStoic.com, we asked her about how she does it:
I use a variety of different techniques to battle the gloom, "morbid thinking," and other mental effects of chronic pain. I self-monitor carefully, keeping an inner lookout for when I find myself dwelling on something that's upsetting me, and I have a sort of triage of responses. I ask myself (A) can I find an actionable solution to the problem? If not (B) can I get myself to stop worrying about the problem and let go? Can I laugh at the problem? Can I ask myself whether this will really matter in a year or five years? Sometimes that alone can break the spell, but if it doesn't this is where I find the maxims, especially the vivid images, often help.
One of my favorites is the stoic image of life as being like being a guest at a banquet. Many great platters are being passed around for you to take from, but occasionally one arrives already empty, everyone else has already taken it all. It's easy to be angry, and it is unfair, but the food wasn't yours to begin with, it was a gift from your host, and you didn't really need it, there is plenty of other food. Sometimes just thinking about that can make me less upset by something. It's amazing how that kind of reframing, zooming out, or changing perspective can sometimes dispel the stormy thoughts that are really what are causing one's unhappiness.
Cultivating your inner citadel doesn’t mean reaching a point where one is immune to life’s disturbances. It’s about having your systems in place, your battle-tested line of defense, ready to fend them off when they inevitably do show up. For Marcus, it was journaling. For Ada, it’s stopping, reframing, changing perspectives. What is it for you?
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stoke Podcast early and add free on Amazon music. Download the app today. |
| 0:13.6 | Welcome to the Daily Stoke. For each day, we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living good life. |
| 0:23.3 | Each one of these passages is based on the 2000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at DailyStoic.com. |
| 0:35.3 | This is how you get tranquility. Marcus Aurelius said that pain either affects the body or the soul. What's the difference? The soul can choose not to be affected, he says, preserving its own serenity, its own tranquility. |
| 0:51.3 | All our decisions urges desires of virgins by within. No evil can touch them. Pierre Hadot's metaphor for this was the inner citadel. Hadot said that Marcus worked to create a soul, a core, an inner fortress that fate chaos, hysterics, vice, and outside influences could never penetrate or break. |
| 1:13.3 | Ada Palmer, a historian, professor and novelist, knows the importance of building an inner citadel. In addition to the tumult of academia, publishing, and constant deadlines, Ada is also disabled and suffers from chronic pain. |
| 1:29.3 | Hadot said that Marcus wrote to himself to strengthen the walls of his citadel to achieve that interior tranquility. In our interview with Ada for DailyStoic.com, we asked her about how she does it. |
| 1:48.3 | She said, I use a variety of different techniques to battle the gloom, morbid thinking, and other mental effects of chronic pain. I self-monitor carefully, keeping an inner lookout for when I find myself dwelling on something that's upsetting me, and I have a sort of triage of responses. |
| 2:06.3 | I ask myself, A, can I find an actionable solution to the problem? If not, B, can I get myself to stop worrying about the problem and let it go? Can I laugh at the problem? Can I ask myself whether this will really matter in a year or five years? |
| 2:22.3 | Sometimes that alone can break the spell. But if it doesn't, this is where I find the maxims, especially the vivid images of stoicism often help. |
| 2:32.3 | My favorites is the stoic image of life as being like a guest at a banquet. Many great platters are being passed around for you to take from. But occasionally one arrives already empty, everyone else has already taken it all. |
| 2:47.3 | It's easy to be angry, and it is unfair. But the food wasn't yours to begin with. It was a gift from your host, and you really don't need it. There's plenty of other food. |
| 2:57.3 | Sometimes just thinking about that can make me less upset by something. It's amazing how that kind of reframing, zooming out and changing perspective can sometimes dispel the stormy thoughts that are really causing ones unhappiness. |
| 3:13.3 | Cultivating your inner Citadel does not mean reaching a point where one is immune to life's disturbances. It's about having systems in place, your battle-tested line of defense, ready to fend them off when they inevitably show up. |
| 3:28.3 | For Marcus, it was journaling. For Ada, it's stopping reframing and changing perspectives. What will it be for you? |
| 3:36.3 | If you like the podcast that we do here and you want to get it via email every morning, you can sign up at dailystoke.com slash email. |
| 3:47.3 | Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to the Daily Stoke early and ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music App today, or you can listen early and ad-free with Wondering Plus in Apple Podcasts. |
| 4:06.3 | Brace Beach is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle? What should be done? Is a new platform needed? Is Twitter dying? |
| 4:16.3 | I'm David Brown, host of the new Wondering Podcast, flipping the bird, Elon versus Twitter. Join us as we unravel the fascinating story of Elon Musk's unexpected bid to buy Twitter, and all of the drama that has happened since then. |
| 4:29.3 | Those still employed at Twitter soon saw the company and its culture morphed into something they didn't recognize. |
| 4:34.3 | He laid off 75% of the Twitter workhorse, reinstated exceedingly problematic and dangerous users, and even encouraged his staff to sleep in the office. |
| 4:43.3 | Ex-employees, Elon's critics and fellow CEOs were quick to denounce him as an in-over-his-head rich guy. His Elon all talker are his unruly methods. |
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