Thoughts on Seneca Letter II

Western Landscape - Johann Hermann Carmiencke

I recently got a library card and have now started to read more. I really like to own the books I read so I can make notes and markings. However, some books are not worth owning and it is only worth sampling the author’s perspective. However, I have already come across two books that I would like to own the first is the modern western, No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy, which is the story that was turned into the now famous Best Picture by the same name. It is a stunning read and a great story with deep characters and themes wrapped in an engaging story. It is somewhat dark in it's themes, so I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. I will probably write about Sheriff Bell in a later post since I find his view and position clearly the crux of why there is no country for old men. I think he wonderfully embodies parts of an American soul that has hollowed out and disappeared from much of our modern United States. The second is the Letters of Seneca. I think that I will write my thoughts on each letter as I read and ponder on it. The edition I am using is the Penguin Classics edition translated by Robin Campbell from 1969 with minor revisions in 2004.

 

The first letter in this edition is Letter II

 

In the first paragraph Seneca highlights why he sees the subject of his letter as a promising individual. He states, “Nothing, to my way of thinking, is better proof of a well ordered mind than a man’s ability to stop just where he is and pass some time in his own company.” He also states, you do not tear from place to place and unsettle yourself with one move after another.” This is an interesting juxtaposition our current day. There is often advice to move rapidly from one job or position as quickly as possible to the next or to move from one city to the next in search of better opportunity. Even now, our entertainment is opposite this belief of Seneca’s we rapidly shift our mind and focus from one entertaining clip to the next. I wonder if our current issues with rising mental health problems could be traced in some way to this lack of focus and ever shifting attention.

 

Seneca goes on to give further examples of why flittering between and through various things but never staying to dwell or enjoy full a few things lack fulfillment, “People who spend their whole life travelling abroad end up having plenty of places where they can find hospitality but no real friendships.” I think this can also be applied no to our current time with thoughts on social media friendships and the feeling of a lot of friends, but not very many of them are really friends in the true sense. They are more hospitable acquaintances from a past experience or maybe non-hospitable acquaintances from a past time. I agree with Seneca on this thought, I think that we should all dig into the relationships we have near us and find truer friends, people we can really confide in with trust and people who keep our trust though their loyalty. I think that it would help all of us if we could have truer friends around us to support us in our lives.

I found Seneca's thoughts on how to expand ones entertainment quite useful and interesting. "So always read well-tried authors, and if at any moment you find yourself wanting to change from a particular author, go back to ones you have read before." It is interesting to think that Seneca, a writer himself, would not explore a new writer, but go back and re-read something for a change. This logic could be applied to the never ending supply of Netflix entertainment or mindless scrolling on instagram. Find a few things that you truly enjoy and if as you are seeking to add a new thing to that list, it seems boring or not your taste, return to a place you know and enjoy thoughts you have already enjoyed. This is a solution to the mind-numbing scrolling of social media which seems to carry away our minds on a vast unstructured current towards less and less enjoyment and more and more consumption. As Seneca says, "...A plant frequently moved never grows strong" and "Restlessness of that sort is symptomatic of a sick mind." So be steady and enjoy the good things and don't think that fulfillment comes from the never ending media buffet but rather from the enjoyment of known things that have already been consumed and enjoyed. If you feel burned out, return to something you are good at. If you are bored, do something you always enjoy. Today, I saw a flock of Cedar Waxwings, similar in size and vocalization to a flock that last Spring roosted in the trees in front of the Life Science building at Utah State University. Seeing them roost in trees outside my current work down in Salt Lake City provided my mind peace and stability at the constancy of nature and the world. Today's flock, might even be the same one that roosts in Logan, on its look spring flight north. Let us add more pattern and consistency to our lives. It will bring more fulfillment.

The final thoughts of Seneca in his Letter II are on greed and poverty. They are quite illuminating and I will leave them with out commentary so you can ponder on them.

"It is not the man who has to little who is poor, but the one who hankers after more. What difference does it  make how much is laid away in a man's safe or in his barns, how many head of stock he grazes or how much capital he puts out at interest, if he is always after what is another's and only counts what he has yet to get, never what he has already. You ask what is the proper limit to a person's wealth? First, having what is essential, and second, having what is enough." - Seneca, Letter II

I think that last statement is what we should all strive for in all aspects of our lives.

I plan to write my thoughts on each letter or portion of letters that I find engaging and enlightening. Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and as always, Stay awesome, Stay in the Gain!