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Corralling The Unnecessary
Focusing on the Daily Stoic Meditation for August 19 — Corralling The Unnecessary, as outlined by Ryan Holiday in the bestseller 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance and the Art Of Living.
“It is said that if you would have peace of mind, busy yourself with little. But wouldn’t a better saying be do what you must and as required of a rational being created for public life? For this brings not only the peace of mind of doing few things, but the greater peace of doing them well. Since the vast majority of our words and actions are unnecessary, corralling them will create an abundance of leisure and tranquility. As a result, we shouldn’t forget at each moment to ask, is this one of the unnecessary things? But we must corral not only unnecessary actions but unnecessary thoughts, too, so needless acts don’t tag along after them.”
— MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 4.24
It’s surprising how difficult it is to actually achieve simplicity in this world.
You think that’d it’d be straightforward, right? Just cut out a few things and keep things as minimal as possible — in theory, simplicity should be easy. The modern world makes simplicity almost impossible, however.
