I followed the Stoic Week: the result is mixed

This article was first published in French on www.unregardstoicien.com

For the 7th consecutive year, the Modern Stoicism team has organized the Stoic week, an online event during which Internet users from all over the world (8000 in 2018) follow the instructions of a handbook published for the occasion in order to experience an intensive week of Stoic practice.

This year’s theme was : “Caring for Ourselves, Others, and our World”. The theme answers a simple question: while we all, or almost all of us, feel that we need to take care of ourselves, of others and of the environment, how do we ensure that these seemingly different goals do not lead to an inner conflict? The seven days of practice, from December 7 to 13, were intended to make us more coherent, more focused and more reflective about the way we act and think.

The Stoic week was divided into seven topics, on the following fields :

Monday: Progress
Tuesday: Happiness
Wednesday: Virtue
Thursday: Community
Friday: Emotions
Saturday: Resilience
Sunday: Nature

Each day consisted of a morning meditation/reading ; a mid-day exercice ; an evening meditation/reading based on a given text and a few optional exercices. Below is a summary of each day, as well as the (not necessarily related) serological reflections…