Sharing what I have learned from what I have read: A blog by Joe Abittan
"The unreal disguise of consciousness serves only to emphasize to me the existence of the undisguised unconsciousness." Fernando Pessoa wrote this in The Book of Disquiet as he reflected on the way that people thought about and moved through the world around him. What Pessoa noted is that we act and behave as though we are … Continue reading The Undisguised Consciousness
Marcus Aurelius and stoic philosophy have had a huge impact on my life. I came to stoicism through Colin Wright and Ryan Holiday, whose books Considerations and The Obstacle is the Way greatly changed my perspectives and the ways that I think about who I am, how the world works, and what is good or bad. Aurelius … Continue reading Defined By Focus
Ta-Nehisi Coats discussed growing up in America as a black man in his book Between the World and Me and two of the ideas he continually returned to were fear and not having control of ones body as a black man. Coats described the way that fear made its way into his daily life and manifested … Continue reading Music, Fear, Culture
Colin Wright explores our mind and what happens when we work to be fully conscious of our world in his book Considerations. He explores topics related to self-awareness, motivation, and focus in his writing, and his book becomes something like a field guide for fortifying our mind and thoughts for the challenges of life. In … Continue reading An Irrational Fear
Marcus Aurelius in his philosophy of stoicism constantly made an effort to look beyond the surface and make deep considerations of people and events before he made any attempt to sort out what they meant. This practice allowed him to delay pressing judgement onto others and gave him the ability to think clearly about something … Continue reading About Being Mad
Fred Kiel lays out his ideas and definitions of morality in his book Return on Character, his business book where he lays out the idea that in order to be truly successful in todays world companies must find leaders with strong moral character. Much of his book focuses on relationships and the types of benefits that … Continue reading Interactions
Colin Wright in his book Considerations shares a bit of excellent advice for those of us who are not 100% clear on our goals. He states, “Focusing on producing value in everything you do serves as consistency when all other options in the entire world are open to you. You can head in any direction, … Continue reading Creating Value Along an Unpredictable Path
Throughout his book Considerations, author Colin Wright reflects ideas that align with stoicism, turning Considerations into a collection of essays on varying topics to slightly mirror Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations. A common theme between the two works is the focus on ideas of self awareness, self-control, and accepting that you do not understand everyone’s perspectives and thoughts. Commenting on ideas … Continue reading How Being Outraged Can Boost Our Self-esteem
A big part of author Colin Wright’s lifestyle is his minimalistic approach to life. Wright travels across the world writing from wherever he finds himself living, and he typically does not settle in one place for more than a year or so at a time. Without a truly permanent residence he has adopted a minimalist … Continue reading Monotasking and Focus
In his book Considerations Colin Wright borrows from Marcus Aurelius and the philosophy of stoicism when he writes about the way we respond to the world and the events that occur in our life on a daily basis. “You can’t change the world around you. Not easily, at least. And as a result, it’s far better … Continue reading Reactions