Run Away From Everything… Like a Stoic
“People try to get away from it all — to the country, to the beach, to the mountains. You always wish that you could too. Which is idiotic: you can get away from it anytime you like.
By going within.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
I think our good stoic friend has a point there. However, going within to get away from it all means knowing your mind, which is a challenge of its own, and is never truly achieved.
It is a never-ending race with yourself. Your mind always changes, and so truly knowing it at all times is impossible. That is because you’re not meant to always know it, you’re meant to pursue (but never achieve) true knowledge of mind.
So what does it mean to know your mind? Controlling your impulses, emotions, yet not limiting them. Owning your actions and decisions be they good or bad.
Easier said than done. Easier to own the good and forget the bad. Easier to let impulses take over. Easier to be ignorant than knowledgeable.
Knowing your mind means knowing who you are in this world, and if you can do that, then you can go within to get away from it all.
You go inside your mind and just think that you’re alive today, the weather outside can be great or terrible, but you’re there to observe it, not control it.
The only thing you can control are your thoughts, and your actions. So do just that, control your thoughts, and you will be able to enjoy your time in your own mind. Your own flesh and bones are under your control, nothing else.
And you can make a choice to not own anything else. To own only yourself and your actions. It is when your actions influence others that you own something but yourself. Otherwise, dismiss it.
When you can do that is when you have enough knowledge of your own mind to be able to take a literal vacation there.
“Nowhere you can go is more peaceful — more free of interruptions — than your own soul. Especially if you have other things to rely on. An instant’s recollection and there it is: complete tranquillity…
So keep getting away from it all — like that. Renew yourself. But keep it brief and basic. A quick visit should be enough to ward off all and send you back ready to face what awaits you.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
I know a few people who would say that they wouldn’t want to remain one-on-one with themselves and their thoughts. To that I say: you have full control on which thoughts you face when you go inside your mind (or soul as Aurelius describes it; I won’t be making much of a distinction in this article).
You have control of what is in your head, everyone does, and the more you exercise that authority the stronger you become. If you never exercise that authority and are afraid of what is within, it will start gaining authority over you. The more you put off facing your own self, the more difficult it will get.
Like a car left out in the rain and snow for years upon years with no care, your mind will begin to corrode, and all it takes is for someone to take the keys and drive.
It’s painfully simple, so simple that I sometimes feel silly not being mindful of my own self.
But just like I, you shouldn’t feel silly, it’s not becoming to someone mindful of just how much power their mind possesses.
Take the keys and drive. Anywhere you want or somewhere you know you should.
