here we are at the end of another grueling 4-day work week.

The Stoics had a very dim view of the ability of the individual to change his life. The best that the individual can do is understand the unchangeable aspects of his nature and Nature at large and live according to them. This idea of living in accord with yourself is a humble one, and it lies at the core of Stoic philosophy. The self that Scout alludes to, then, is not some independently free will that invents itself and has only itself to blame for its sins. The Stoic self is a natural self, the self given to you by nature, that has its own form and purpose. The key to life is not to transform that self, but to live according to it. Harmony being the key concept.

well, what do you know. i am a stoic.

this description was written by jeff, who will sometimes post comments here, so if you want to know more about jeff or see more of the original post by scout that he references, well you can just toodle on down the page here and find some comment by jeff and follow the link to his blog. you are a big kid. you can handle it.

anyway, back to this description of stoicism that i find so appealing. seems that according to this, life is not a journey of self-evolution, but rather, it is a journey of self-discovery. the more i know about ace, the very essense of ace, "ace-ness" if you will, the better i can harmonize the existence of ace with the greater existence of all mankind, animalkind, florakind, earth, wind, fire, et cetera and so for and so on. i am not tasked with continually reinventing myself. i am tasked with discovering my true nature and also discovering the true nature of existence and then attempting to harmonize the two? or live in harmony with the two?

not clear on that point exactly, but this idea of harmony with self and with the greater is in keeping with what i was saying about talent the other day - that my talent is part of who i am and it is my talent that drives me and starves me and pushes me and feeds me. my talent is both my quest and my reward. my talent is in me, it is me, and the more time i spend discovering my talent and honing it, the more i am living in harmony with my true self, the better steward and master of my talent i will become.

people get so obsessed with constant reinvention, rebirth, reincarnation, always reaching outward, outward, outward - wanting to discover who they are by measuring against the sticks of the world. but the world doesn't determine who we are, and we don't determine who we are. disappointed? why? you are who you are. stop trying to make yourself over, and instead try getting to know yourself. ah, see? there's the problem. we're all full of these black pits of ooze that we'd rather smooth over with a nice 12-step program and membership to the Y.

get over yourself. embrace the ooze.