See The World Like A Poet And An Artist

The Daily Stoic for today: “See the world like a poet and an artist”.

“Pass through this brief patch of time in harmony with nature, and come to your final resting place gracefully, just as a ripened olive might drop, praising the earth that nourished it and grateful to the tree that gave it growth.”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 4.48.2

Reading today’s daily stoic, I just learned that Marcus Aurelius wrote his meditations for himself. Meaning, he was the only expected audience for his thoughts. Even though, he really made an enormous effort to create this vivid imagery. Why?

Looking At The Sky Like A Fool

Today, I was walking to TechHub (the startup community and co-working space I work at here in Riga). At some point, the tram stopped just in front of me, and I realized that all the people inside where looking at their smartphones.

Then I had a look around and observed the faces of the people near me. The ones that were not looking at their screens had their gaze lost down to the concrete. They all seemed to be in a hurry… but going nowhere interesting.

Then, I looked at the sky. It was snowing. I love snow. Being from the south of Spain, I have barely seen the roofs covered in white in my whole life.

I started smiling like a child. And kept looking at that beautiful white sky while it snowed on my way to TechHub.

See The World Like A Poet And An Artist

There’s beauty in everything, just not everybody sees it — Andy Warhol

I think one of the most important lessons of Stoicism is that our attitude is everything. How we see what happens to us every day. And of course, how we react to it.

Like Andy Warhol said, there’s beauty in everything.

When I was young, there was this band I loved in Murcia called “In the ears of children”. Their philosophy was making music that will allow you to listen something new every time, like you were listening from the ears of a child. They really opened my mind to post-rock and improvisational music.

First, you would only hear noise. Then, you realized that there was actually music buried inside, changing, pulsating music that grew and retreated into silence regularly. Finally, you would find yourself listening to it over and over again.

I think that seeing the world like a poet and an artist means exactly that. Realizing that there’s always something new and beautiful that’s so easy to overlook. We are usually so busy looking at our screens, thinking on our incoming meeting or just worried about something, that we forget to enjoy life.

Conclusion

Today’s Daily Stoic was more of a philosophical reflection for me. Sometimes, engulfed in our daily routine, we forget to enjoy the small, beautiful things. Let’s look up for a moment, see the world like a poet and an artist, and forget about our woes for just some minutes.

Don’t hesitate to share your thoughts in the comments section below!