I'm glad that you're here.
In this post, I'd like to frame our conversation on how to create lives of joy and meaning, following a very basic (and widely agreed upon) starting point:
In our lives there are (few) things that we can control and (many) things we cannot.
Let's take it from there, and ask two fundamental questions:
What can we control?
According to the Stoic philosophy we can only control our thoughts, our opinions, our adopted values, and our decisions to act or not to act -- ideally upon careful reflection and deliberation.
In a broader sense, we could focus on a few key verbs (since they inspire conscious action) and state that we ideally should be able to control:
what we think;
what we say (and how we say it);
what we do (with our time, our skills, and circumstances);
what we consume (foods, books, TV, social media, and more);
how we react to events (internal or external);
how we decide to (not) act in any given circumstance.
What is beyond our control?
In short: everything else, from migraines to clogged toilets, from getting a job to finding true love, from hurricanes to earthquakes.
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During the next posts, I plan to expand upon each of these aspects, providing food for thought and -- most importantly -- ideas that you can put to use in your life to make it more joyful and meaningful!
We will adopt a scientific mindset grounded on psychology, philosophy, neurosciences, and other relevant fields of knowledge. We will also tap onto popular culture and be inspired by Art in many forms (from music to painting to cinema).
I hope you'll enjoy the conversation and look forward to engaging with you as I shape the contents of upcoming writings.
May you be happy, healthy, safe, and at ease.
Let's get started!
