An Existential Crisis
Sweet Bites for October 11, 2024
Hi all,
Welcome to another edition of Sweet Bites, Mind Candy’s bite-sized newsletter with thought-provoking finds to send you into the weekend with.
This email forwarded? Update your subscription below.
Any of the below bites resonate? Hit the reply button and let me know.
🦉 Pieces of Wisdom to Reflect On
On our existential conundrum
“Every day we're in the grip of the impossible conundrum: the truth that it's over in a blink, and we may be near the end, and that we have to live as if it's going to be okay, no matter what.”
Anne Lamott
Source: Almost Everything
—
On our existence
“When one has an existentialist view of the world, like mine, the paradox of human life is precisely that one tries to be and, in the long run, merely exists. It's because of this discrepancy that when you've laid your stake on being and, in a way you always do when you make plans, even if you actually know that you can't succeed in being-when you turn around and look back on your life, you see that you've simply existed. In other words, life isn't behind you like a solid thing, like the life of a god (as it is conceived, that is, as something impossible). Your life is simply a human life.”
Simone de Beauvoir
Source: Midlife
—
A Stoic tactic on the fear of death
“A trite but effective tactic against the fear of death: think of the list of people who had to be pried away from life. What did they gain by dying old? In the end, they all sleep six feet under.”
Marcus Aurelius
Source: Meditations 4.50
—
On our inevitable demise
“But like the night, death is inevitable. We've only succeeded in breaking it into innumerable fragmentary shadows that dim the day. In our panic to avoid the darkness of death, we sacrifice the light of our lives.”
Christopher Ryan
Source: Civilized to Death
📰 Article Worthy of a Read
How to cope with an existential crisis by Skye Cleary
Cleary utilizes the philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard to discuss an existential crisis and how the philosophy can help brings us out of crisis.
My favorite Kierkegaard quote from the piece is:
“He whose eye happens to look down into the yawning abyss becomes dizzy. But what is the reason for this? It is just as much in his own eye as in the abyss, for suppose he had not looked down.”
Also, if you haven’t already, check out Cleary’s book on the work of Simone de Beauvoir, How to be Authentic, one of my favorite books of the last few years.
📚 This Week’s Monday Meditation
✏️ This Week’s Wednesday Wisdom
Until next time,
D.A. DiGerolamo
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.