I am neither a history major, nor an expert on the topic of Marcus Aurelius. He seems to have gained some popularity in recent times with the latest burgeoning of Stoicism. And rightly so, because, like us, his world was a dumpster fire. After reading the biography section in Meditations (trans. George Long, Union Square & Co., 2021), I began to wonder if he ever had a day of fun. War, a plague, some “rude people” over the Alps trying to break into the empire, political and personal betrayal, the loss of eight children – all interspersed by near-daily interactions with ignorant and annoying people. No wonder he felt compelled to write a philosophical edict on how to cope. Hm. Sounds familiar.
Marcus was born into a wealthy family and was highly educated in philosophy, so introspection and analysis were already part of his identity. However, the weirder things got for him, the more Meditations began to shift in tone, with repetition, urgency and radical acceptance of his fate as a means of surviving. It is clear he is using philosophy to parse out meaning from the chaos.
Meditations is an absolute treasure trove on coping. Marcus covers it all, from how to interact on the daily with jerks, to finding higher order and meaning in the horror. For those of you not really seeking the divine, who just want a pro tip on getting through the day, here’s a golden nugget from Book 2.1:
“Begin the morning by saying to thyself, I shall meet with the busybody, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial. All these things happen to them by reason of their arrogance of what is good and evil.”
LOVE THIS FOR US. Think of your irritating coworkers or whatever troll you’ve got in your life. Radically accept that they are all going to be there. It feels good to be seen, doesn’t it? He goes on:
“But I who have seen the nature of the good that it is beautiful, and of the bad that it is ugly, and the nature of him who does wrong, that it is akin to me; not [only] of the same blood or seed; but that it participates in [the same] intelligence and [the same] portion of the divinity,”
UH OH. He’s basically giving us the ‘we are all equal at the feet of Jesus’ speech, which really sucks when you’re so annoyed by your transgressors….
“I can neither be injured by any of them, for no one can fix on me what is ugly, nor can I be angry with my kinsman, nor hate him.”
This is the original ‘I’m rubber and you’re glue. Whatever you say bounces off of me and sticks onto you.’ And finally:
“For we are made for co-operation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like the rows of the upper and lower teeth. To act against one another then, is contrary to nature; and it is acting against one another to be vexed and to turn away.”
My take on this: in short, if you don’t want to have a heart attack, consider radically accepting the nuisance in your life, and choose peace over letting them get on your nerves. Why? Because in the great big theatrical production in the sky – the entirety of which you cannot see – these people are playing their assigned role. Even if it is a clown.
Until next time, Let nothing disturb you, Let nothing frighten you, All things pass away: God (source, physics) never changes. Patience obtains all things. They who have God (source, physics) find they lack nothing; God (source, physics) alone suffices.
Love, Jen
Poor Marcus Aurelius. He looks so fed up. I found this picture at https://www.flickr.com/photos/69716881@N02/8488144589