The comedian David Mitchell was working on a jocular answer to the tricky question “What are things?” for his Guardian column when he wrote the following: “What is a call to prayer but a noisy sport without a scoring system? What is a drama but an unbelievably long comedy without…
How much time do you spend on social media? Do you favour one platform over another or is your time divided equally among a few? Do you use it to keep up with friends and family? To read the latest news? To engage in heated arguments? Are you happy with…
The word philosophy comes from the Greek philosophia, which literally means “love of wisdom.” So, whether you’re completely new to Stoic philosophy or have been inching ever-closer to sagacity for some time, the great thing is that it’s always possible to learn something new, to feed your hunger for wisdom. …
Do you have your own rules for life? Your own set of principles you steadfastly stick to in any situation and can default to when faced with tough choices? You probably have a rough idea, but why not take the time to write them down? Having the main ones clarified…
John Sellars first developed an interest in Stoicism while studying philosophy at university. A journey of discovery through Greek philosophy led him to the likes of Plato and Socrates, and eventually the Stoic philosophers Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius. Now he is an academic lecturing in philosophy, the author of books…
As the phrase goes, sh*t happens. Sometimes it happens to us. Sometimes we have periods when it feels like a lot of sh*t is happening to us at the same time. In the classic comedy, Wayne’s World, Wayne Campbell experiences one of these periods and laments: “What the hell's going…
“It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinions than our own.” Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 12.4 Has anyone you know announced big news recently? An engagement? A pregnancy? New job? New house? Were you happy for them? Were you…
What Is Loneliness? “Loneliness isn’t the physical absence of other people - it’s the sense that you’re not sharing anything that matters with anyone else.” The above is a quote from Johann Hari’s book Lost Connections. Judging by the reaction to a recent piece, it resonates with a lot of…
It can be nice to have nice things. It’s such an effortless impulse to want nice things - a desire that keeps passing through the mind like a persistent pilot circling his plane over your house with an advertising banner fluttering behind it saying, “Your neighbour’s car is better than…
When a person suffers from depression or anxiety, it is because they have been cut off, disconnected, from something they innately need but have lost at some point. That’s the conclusion Johann Hari draws in his book Lost Connections - that every social and psychological cause of depression and anxiety…