Thank you for these poignant and provocative reflections, Leslie. I have been thinking about pain a lot lately given my recent back injury.
As you’ve rightly noted, pain—whether physical, emotional, or psychological—can prompt growth, provided we’re open to it. This is one of the lessons of Stoicism I have been trying to integrate, as challenging as it can be in the midst of the suffering.
What you’ve described here Seneca succinctly captures in, “Misfortune is virtue’s opportunity.”
Not virtue in the contemporary, self-congratulating sense but rather in the sense that our response to adversity can enrich our character, expand our empathy, strengthen our resilience, and deepen our wisdom. This applies on both the individual and societal level.
As W. Clement Stone writes:
“Every adversity contains within it the seed of an equivalent, or greater, benefit.”
Thank you Margaret, yes, spot on. This is not about fake virtue but the imperative and gift of living an honorable and virtuous life. Caroline Myss says that one of the ways we transform our lives is to see our challenges symbolically - life is not being done to us, but for us. I've tried to integrate that into my life. As an extension of that approach, I tried to examine myself daily as it is through that rigorous and honest examination that self awareness begins. Most of us are on autopilot not realizing our training and wounding directs our responses to life, self examination helps us get to the root of that training so that we can eradicate it by the roots - and then live a happier, healthier life. 💕
The Covid pandemic was a litmus test on who in our families and community was so susceptible to the fear-mongering around germs. The fact of the matter is that biological systems are strongest and are the most sustainable when they are the most complex...in other words, most of us benefit from exposure to other the biomes of other people (though people who are immuno-compromised cannot afford such exposures).
Sadly, however, science is too technical for some people, and they allowed physicians and scientists who had jobs that demanded fear-mongering by their employers...and anyone connected to a university was required to do the most fear-mongering or Tony Fauci and the NIH would not fund their universities projects. Shame on Fauci and the NIH!
Thanks, Dana. And most of us benefit from hearing other people's viewpoints and opinions but that opportunity has been stifled by Americans self-sorting themselves into like-minded communities and the corporate media siloing us into echo-chambers while simultaneously destroy any culture vestige of right and wrong. We are the ones who can change this dynamic.
Yes, we can TRY to change this dynamic. However, when Facebook and other social media sources blacklist certain subjects and/or certain people, they are using their algorithms to censor and stifle real dialogue. Personally, I believe that we develop better understandings of subjects through debate...and our media and our social media is not allowing for DEBATE!
Absolutely - I was bulking in social media platforms with corporate media - they are just that, corporate and antithetical to open, free, and honest discourse. That's why I suggest people do it locally by starting an email thread for local happenings - to bypass the social media companies.
Thank you for these poignant and provocative reflections, Leslie. I have been thinking about pain a lot lately given my recent back injury.
As you’ve rightly noted, pain—whether physical, emotional, or psychological—can prompt growth, provided we’re open to it. This is one of the lessons of Stoicism I have been trying to integrate, as challenging as it can be in the midst of the suffering.
What you’ve described here Seneca succinctly captures in, “Misfortune is virtue’s opportunity.”
Not virtue in the contemporary, self-congratulating sense but rather in the sense that our response to adversity can enrich our character, expand our empathy, strengthen our resilience, and deepen our wisdom. This applies on both the individual and societal level.
As W. Clement Stone writes:
“Every adversity contains within it the seed of an equivalent, or greater, benefit.”
Thank you Margaret, yes, spot on. This is not about fake virtue but the imperative and gift of living an honorable and virtuous life. Caroline Myss says that one of the ways we transform our lives is to see our challenges symbolically - life is not being done to us, but for us. I've tried to integrate that into my life. As an extension of that approach, I tried to examine myself daily as it is through that rigorous and honest examination that self awareness begins. Most of us are on autopilot not realizing our training and wounding directs our responses to life, self examination helps us get to the root of that training so that we can eradicate it by the roots - and then live a happier, healthier life. 💕
The Covid pandemic was a litmus test on who in our families and community was so susceptible to the fear-mongering around germs. The fact of the matter is that biological systems are strongest and are the most sustainable when they are the most complex...in other words, most of us benefit from exposure to other the biomes of other people (though people who are immuno-compromised cannot afford such exposures).
Sadly, however, science is too technical for some people, and they allowed physicians and scientists who had jobs that demanded fear-mongering by their employers...and anyone connected to a university was required to do the most fear-mongering or Tony Fauci and the NIH would not fund their universities projects. Shame on Fauci and the NIH!
Thanks, Dana. And most of us benefit from hearing other people's viewpoints and opinions but that opportunity has been stifled by Americans self-sorting themselves into like-minded communities and the corporate media siloing us into echo-chambers while simultaneously destroy any culture vestige of right and wrong. We are the ones who can change this dynamic.
Yes, we can TRY to change this dynamic. However, when Facebook and other social media sources blacklist certain subjects and/or certain people, they are using their algorithms to censor and stifle real dialogue. Personally, I believe that we develop better understandings of subjects through debate...and our media and our social media is not allowing for DEBATE!
Absolutely - I was bulking in social media platforms with corporate media - they are just that, corporate and antithetical to open, free, and honest discourse. That's why I suggest people do it locally by starting an email thread for local happenings - to bypass the social media companies.