Obvious State

“We Suffer More Often in Imagination Than in Reality” - Seneca.

I recently noticed something about bad days. If you check all of the items off your to-do list, it makes no difference whether you did so miserably or with equanimity. The report was written, the project was completed, the dishes were done, the mail was dropped off, the trash was taken out. And the things don’t care whether you suffered to do them, or delighted in doing them. The modern version of this is the saying “Pain is inevitable, but suffering is a choice.” This is an excellent example of the kind of actionable wisdom that Seneca and stoicism offer. 

For this illustration for “Letters from a Stoic” I chose a Parisian street as the backdrop, a sunset reflected in the Hausmann windows. A shadow is cast on the memory, transforming the scene into a rainy night, the crown of the man’s head making a second dark sun. Seneca encourages us to accept the difficulties of life with equanimity, and to reject the temptation to dwell on what we can’t control.

🦉 “No one was ever wise by chance” - Seneca. From his epistles to Lucilius (Letter 76: On Learning Wisdom in Old Age).

ABOUT THE ART
In this illustration an owl carrying a scroll confronts the viewer with wings unfolded. The wings are “lined” with Latin text from Seneca’s letters rendered in a handwritten style of the period, a challenge and invitation to contend with the writings of this wise and patient philosopher. This artwork is also the cover art for our new edition of “Letters from a Stoic.”