Discipline of Desire: Extra Exercises
When? When you’re getting upset:
What? Loving the present, no matter what it is (amor fati, or “loving one’s fate” as Nietzsche put it)
When you realize you’re getting upset, adopt the Stoics’ universal view: realize that “The twining strands of fate” wove you into your situation and that you can’t control these circumstances, only your response to them. Accept reality and make the most of it. Don’t wish the impossible.
When? At mealtime
What? Make Water Your Default
Water can satisfy your thirsts and it’s relatively easy to get, so make it your default beverage choice. If you like this idea, try simplifying other areas of your meal: search online for simple, inexpensive recipes and find some favorites.
When? Once a day (preferably in the morning)
What? The View from Above
A Stoic practicing The View from Above imagines herself far above her home, looking down. From this view, she sees human life’s patterns played out again and again; births, people in love, petty disagreement, commerce, idleness, deaths, and so on. She’s got better perspective from here – a perspective that’s especially useful for moderating desire. From her point of view, human indulgences seem puerile and hardly worth the effort – externals lose their grip on her and plummet to the ground.
You can start the exercise this way and then imagine yourself even higher seeing things more broadly.
Continue until you’re seeing the entire planet from space. Pale Blue Dot, a speech by Carl Sagan, offers a great guided option. A beautiful video accompanies this piece at the end of the TV series, Cosmos, A Spacetime Odyssey. Just watching the video or even reading the speech is an excellent way to start doing this meditation. Calm.com also has a meditation setting that shows Earth from space.
