Isaksen Dáidda

And the shortness of life

Introduction

For as long as I can remember, I have loved philosophy. I consider it a pillar of my own self. If I were one day not to care for wisdom anymore, that in itself would be proof that I indeed have died inside. My life has not been free of adversity, far from it, but my love of wisdom has never seized.

When philosophy first became a word (from greek: Philos ∙ love – Sophia ∙ wisdom, many branches we now consider separate (such as psychology, biology, sociology etc.) were still under the umbrella of philosophy. As we have, over time, found certain accepted answers to the inner workings of the world, fields of studies have emigrated, like apples from the tree of philosophy. Other branches were more abstract, such as metaphysics, and never made this emigration. Today it seems silly to ponder where the rain in the clouds comes from for too long – we can simply google it, if we can’t remember from school – but for a long time it wasn’t silly at all. And even though it sometimes feels like all is discovered and mankinds collective knowledge is so vast, there are still a million questions and more worth asking; some of them might actually have an answer, others do not (at least not in singular form). It is in the question, in the wondering, in the subjective realizations, that the value of philosophy lies; In addition to the answers it has already given us.

Now; To Seneca, On the shortness of life.

Seneca

Reading On the shortness of life by Seneca was an absolute pleasure. There is something about this book, despite its age, that is so relevant still. Senecas full name was Lucius Annaeus Seneca, and he was known as Seneca the younger or simply Seneca. He lived to experience year 0, as he was born only 4 years BC, and died 65 years after. He was born in Hispania, on the Iberian peninsula, which was at that time part of the Roman empire.
Seneca was a stoic. He didn’t approve of hedonism, and preferred a simple lifestyle. On the shortness of life is writted in a way that is most human and true, and many times did I forget that it was in fact an almost 2000 year old text. Seneca speaks a lot about leisure in this book, and it came at a fitting time for me. I struggle with stress, struggle to find leisure. Even when I have time, I struggle to relax. Leisure, to Seneca is complicated and he has several opinions on what is not leisure but disguises itself as it, and that is thus a waste of time – in fact, the only thing that is always, undoubtably worthy of time in life according to Seneca, is philosophy. He writes quite beautifully about belonging to a philosophical school – choosing to learn from philosophers instead of our parents, who may have passed on terrible and destructive ideas to us that we didn’t ask for. We didn’t choose our parents, but we can choose who we look up to.

“We are in the habit of saying that it was not in our power to choose the parents who were allotted to us, that they were given to us by chance. But we can choose whose children we would like to be. There are households of the noblest intellects: choose the one into which you wish to be adopted, and you will inherit not only their name but their property too. Nor will this property need to be guarded meanly or grudgingly: the more it is shared out, the greater it will become. These will offer you a path to immortality and raise you to a point from which no one is cast down.”

An interesting chapter in this book is the one called Consolation to Helia. Here, Seneca speaks to his own mother, consoling her in a time of grief. Trying to help her, he mentions both the terrible things she have had to endure in life, and the people around her who love her. He mentions how despite her being a woman and not allowed money, she has been in charge of finances in their family and have done well in caring for that. I found it an interesting peek into womens history from the Roman empire, 2000 years ago.

“You administered our inheritances as though you were earnestly looking after your own and being scrupulously provident with another’s; you were cautious in using our influence, as if it were someone else’s, and in our spells in office you had no part except your pleasure and the expenses.”

“0 how many noble deeds of women are lost in obscurity! If she had chanced to live in the days of old when people frankly admired heroism, how men of genius would have competed to sing the praises of a wife who ignored her physical weakness, ignored the sea which even the bravest must fear, and risked her life to give her husband burial; and while her thoughts were on his funeral had no fears about her own! All the poets have given renown to the woman who offered to die in place of her husband. But this is nobler, to risk one’s life to bury one’s husband: for that love is greater which wins less through equal danger.”

Seneca believed that any one person should study philosophy – his own mother also – and that they should also make themselves useful to the community if at all possible. He had great respect for teachers who instilled in their students virtues – the idea of virtues are after all an integral part of stoicism.

The four virtues of Stoicism

• Wisdom
• Courage
• Justice
• Temperance

Although Seneca believed that one should be at service to the community, he also achnowledged that is is sometimes important for a person to retreat from public life.

“Just as certain wholesome substances do us good by their odour even without tasting or touching them, so Virtue spreads her advantages even from a distant hiding place.”

And so we have philosophy, virtue and community as integral parts of a good life, according to Seneca – and, he also advocated for frugality. Another important aspect, he says, is friendship.

“But nothing delights the mind so much as fond and loyal friendship. What a blessing it is to have hearts that are ready and willing to receive all your secrets in safety, with whom you are less afraid to share knowledge of something than keep it to yourself, whose conversation soothes your distress, whose advice helps you make up your mind, whose cheerfulness dissolves your sorrow, whose very appearance cheers you up!”

On the shortness of life shares wisdom on how to live a long life; Time is relative after all, as we know today. It does not stop for anyone, and yet we have all experienced how some minutes feel like hours and years flew by like weeks or even days in memory. As I am diagnosed with a chronic depression disorder, I have often felt that life is too long. However, I am trying to give up my habit of dissociating, which is threatening to steal my life away. Despite life sometimes feeling too long, I have decided, after much thinking, that it is not to be squandered still. We all die in the end, there is no hurry. I might as well make use of the time I have; and suddenly, feeling a need to live a good and valuable life, I am also realizing that presence is a key to that. Presence has been an enemy on mine, for it strengthens not only the good, but the bad in life as well. However, I must become present, as much as I can, or else my life will become terribly short, no matter how long I live.

Towards the end of the book, Seneca summarizes briefly what one should remember in order to live a long life – for it is, as he says, long if you know how to use it.

“We must indulge the mind and from time to time allow it the leisure which is its food and strength. We must go for walks out of doors, so that the mind can be strengthened and invigorated by a clear sky and plenty of fresh air. At times it will acquire fresh energy from a journey by carriage and a change of scene, or from socializing and drinking freely. Occasion ally we should even come to the point of intoxication, sinking into drink but not being totally flooded by it; for it does wash away cares, and stirs the mind to its depths, and heals sorrow just as it heals certain diseases.”

Thank you for reading,

Wild Water