The ancient Stoics, since they were in Greece at a time where pankration (a kind of ancient Greek mixed martial arts) was THE sport of the day, refer to fighting and conflict A LOT (much to my happiness). 

Judging by all those CAPS, and italics, and (parentheses), and clauses in the above sentence, I’ve got a lot of thoughts and opinions and feelings about this particular daily topic. I use martial metaphor enough that I’d wager my congregants would list it in the top three metaphors I use in my ministry. It’s something that everyone believes they understand, and few truly do. Usually the few who do understand are trained in some form(s) of combat, served in the military, or are experienced with either having hands put on them, or putting hands on someone else. It’s a holistic process that includes mental, emotional, and spiritual discipline, to be certain… but without a physical discipline, you’re going to quit the first time you get smacked in the face. 

In other words, one cannot THINK about martial arts and actually KNOW martial arts, and I’d also argue that applies to most endeavors. If you’ve never been hit, I can assure you it’s shockingly debilitating the first time it happens. If you don’t get knocked out, you’ll be mostly useless from feeling hardcore physical violence perpetrated against you for the first time. 

However, if we train in martial arts, we accept that getting hit, and hitting (or throwing, joint-locking, grappling, etc…), is the very nature of what we’re doing. 

One cannot learn to be a “fighter” without sparing… and when sparring, or any other kind of training, doesn’t go your way, it’s in this space we learn what kind of fighter we are. 

Do we surrender? Ask the victims of abuse what happens when one surrenders to a situation. Do we beg it to stop? Not everyone is as honorable as we think we are. 

Do we fight all the way to the ground, and when there, we keep going? Yep. That’s exactly what we do. Do we just say “fuck it” and quit? Nope. 

It was in this spirit I chose to reinvest in ADF. I’m not giving up and allowing the small minded keep the shackles on the expansive, inclusive, fearless nature of Our Druidry… or at least what could be Our Druidry. I’m staying, and they’ll have to wrestle ADF out of my cold, dead hands. Gods be good, it’ll be better than when I found it… 

… because “Why not Excellence?”

Understand the nature of the thing, then engage fully… especially when it’s hard. 

That’s where the seeds of Virtue are generated. 

(See y’all tomorrow)

I didn’t grow up with much. That isn’t to say that I wanted for anything, save perhaps affection. No, what I mean to say is that I didn’t “have a lot of stuff”. My mom, Nancy, hated clutter, and was known for tossing things when she believed they’d somehow shifted from the category of “useful stuff” to “clutter-creating junk”. Weird thing about it was that it didn’t matter whose stuff it was, AND the chances on this water-to-wine level miracle of stuff transformation doubled when the stuff happened to be mine. 

What a coincidence, no? 

Hidden inside the hard-taught, broken lesson of assigning value to things/beings with which we have an emotional connection is the treasure of learning how to see and appreciate quality. 

​Again, great lesson… horrible delivery. 

I think it’s because of this I’m not a collector. I don’t collect books, trinkets, clothes, friends, guns, baseball cards, degrees, religious accomplishments, etc. etc. etc… at this point I think if I started, I’d feel like some sort of ego-feeding hoarder. 

Sitting quietly sometimes, I can Nancy’s voice in my head. “Why you need all them ‘friends’, Billy. Those people ain’t your friend. You’ll know who your friends are when you ain’t got nothing. See who’s left.” 

Again, great lesson… horrible delivery. (See where I get it from?) 

A few of *whatever* in the finest quality possible, is worth a thousand shitty ones. 

(See y'all tomorrow)

When I was in my undergrad at Naropa University, I had the privilege to study with one of modern Judaism’s great teachers, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, ZT”L… Reb Zalman as he was known to everyone. 

Reb Zalman once taught that Hebrew is a doing language, as it reflects its people… an orthopraxic people. In other words, a doing language arouse out of a doing culture. In this light, it’ll make sense when you hear another of his teachings: one doesn’t become a Jew, even the converts. To be a Jew, he’d say, one must be engaged in the act of Jew-ing. Jews are just people who are Jew-ing. 

He’d throw “ing” after lots of stuff, thereby making whatever he was talking about an active practice as opposed to a static one (Faith-ing was one of my personal favorites).

May his memory always be a blessing. 

Anyhow, why this teaching? Why now? 

Yesterday we talked about consistency and diligence in practice. We believe it’s the practice that will make us into something that we’re not already… when in fact, by doing the thing, we become the thing-doer. By martial art-ing, we become the martial artist. By stoic-ing, we become the stoic. By not-martial art-ing, we are not martial artists, and by not stoic-ing, we are not stoics. 

Sure, we’ll fail. We’ll get knocked down. Just get up, keep going, and take it one step at a time. We’re supposed to fail, AND we’re supposed to keep going. 

We don’t practice then become the thing. POOF! You’re enlightened! 

Shoot, wouldn’t that be easy? 

No, what we do instead is practice… and it’s through the doing that we become. 

Do something. Flavor your tofu. 

(See y’all tomorrow) 

I went to the firing range today. 

Funny… someone asked if I go for the therapeutic effects shooting can have. I replied, “Hmmm. Not really. At this point, it’s training (which I don’t mind). If I were key-holing shots it might be a bit more therapeutic.” 

As a lifelong martial artist, I don’t mind training. My martial arts background is, likely, what helped shape my attitude toward practice and training, and that attitude has certainly helped me in other areas of my life (scholastic endeavors, clerical goals, relationship-ing, etc.). 

That being said, I’ve increased my frequency of attendance at the gun club (2-3 times/week) to get in some additional training, as I have a class (complete with a test at the end) in about a week and half… and feel grossly underprepared. There’s NO WAY I’ve spent 10,000 hours training in the martial skill of the handgun. If we were talking about the above mentioned hand-to-hand martial arts, I’ve not “thrown enough kicks or punches” to feel comfortable defending myself with those skills. 

What I'm getting at is this: my chain of practice is in fragments. It’s neat to have all those fragments, but ultimately, they’ll do me no good since what I “need” is a length of sturdy chain that I can DO something with. I’ve trained before, and to see results, I know that I have to spend a little time EVERY DAY working on those skills I want to learn. 

This is right action. It’s putting our “doing” toward a specific goal. 

*Ummm… hey, William. This blog is about Stoicism*

Geez, other-William, gimmie a break, will ya? I’m getting to that. 

The more we practice, the better we get, and when that practice becomes training, and we live to constantly train, becoming better in all things, we live in virtue. We embody virtue through our actions. In our lives, we can use the ongoing work of practice and training to add virtuous qualities in our lives, or to step away from habits that aren’t healthy for us. 

Essentially, this diligent training and focused practice is building new habits… 

… or strengthen old ones. 

See, the crazy thing about the method is that it doesn’t judge. It’ll work whether or not the acts are good, or hurtful. 

We become what we practice becoming. 

The more we practice, the more we become. 

Be mindful of what is being strengthened, and work assiduously every day to grow stronger. 

Seems like a LOT to take on, yeah? Well, it is. 

Good news is this: you don’t have to do it all at once. Take it one day at a time, one step at a time, moment by moment. 

Feel better? Good. 

Let’s get to work. 

(See y’all tomorrow)  

​Attitude of gratitude. 

Practice, learn, repeat. 

(See y’all tomorrow)

​SUPER funny that today’s topic is “well-being”. 

Here’s why: Rev. Bee and I started a class yesterday entitled “Existential Well-Being Counseling”, and in one of my first posts to the class, I argued that only embracing the idea of “well-being” will do nothing but further develop and strengthen one’s ego. To me, well-being is being (more like DOIN) well. The ACT of being, in other words. 

​Love your performance and performing… not the reviews. The goal isn’t to WIN, but instead, to show up, and give our best, most authentic performance possible. 

Focus on our response to what happens… not on what happens. 

(See y’all tomorrow)

​Aristotle said, “We are what we repeatedly do, therefore, excellence is not an act but a habit.”

So, why not excellence? 

Probably because people are lazy, and instead distort “excellence” into “mediocrity” and sell that bullshit to others. 

“No, really. It’s EXCELLENCE. Seriously.” 

If those are the habits you’re building, then it’s not excellence being constructed. Oh, no. It’s a house of cards… 

… something that appears solid, but is, in truth, precariously unstable. 

You’re building a bonfire of bullshit. 

Fuel the Fire with Virtue… not selfishness and ego. 

(See y’all tomorrow) 

​Even in the face of utter meanness, we still have the ability to choose to DO right. What if we were kind to the perpetrator? 

I’m not talking about what we do in the face of abuse, cruelty, hate, and crime… I’m talking about the smaller things. All the bits that we get “triggered” by, the bits that make us “uncomfortable”. I’m talking about the “aggressions” that, while aggressive, aren’t life and limb threatening. 

How different would people respond to radical kindness instead of to being told how triggery they are? How would the world change if we could use our strength to battle these social situations with kindness instead of indignation? 

It’s be a different place, that’s for sure. 

On this day, the day of remembering our mothers, let us try and bring a bit more loving-kindness into the world. It’s the right thing to DO. 

(See y’all tomorrow)