Events & Announcements

2 Events, 7 Meditations, and a Bonus

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For those who enjoy watching/listening to Stoicism, here are three new activities that I can highly recommend:

Deeper Connections on the Stoa Meditation App

I recently collaborated with Caleb Ontiveros of the Stoa Meditation App to create a series of modern meditations on finding Deeper Connections. In this series we practice connecting with others through rational compassion. The goal is to experience positive emotions in your relationships with others.

Using breathing exercises and visualization techniques associated with both mindfulness meditation and Stoicism, we cover topics like:

• What is Stoic compassion?

• Forgiving yourself

• Dealing with challenging people

• Appreciating the people around you

• Improving romantic relationships

• Getting along with difficult family members

• Dealing with colleagues at work

You can read an overview in The Stoa Letter, listen to my interview on compassion with Caleb, and download the Stoa App for the full suite of meditations.

Stoicon-X New England this Saturday

Stoicon-X New England: Cultivating Resilience takes place this Saturday, January 20 at 1:00 pm EST. This is a hybrid event, so if you live in the area you are welcome to attend in person (in Bedford, MA). Everyone else can join online.

This year I will be doing the keynote talk on Quiet Courage. We will examine the ancient Stoic definition of courage provided by Arius Didymus, looking at the subvirtues of endurance, confidence, great-heartedness, stout-heartedness, and love of work. I will share five inspiring, real-life stories of Stoic resilience and suggest ways we can all cultivate quiet courage in our own lives.

There will also be other talks on resilience, a panel, and a book giveaway for one of my books. It will be a very valuable event! Register here.

Philosophical Role Models Conference

I am pleased to announce that my nonprofit organization Stoicare is partnering with The Walled Garden philosophical society to offer an event on March 23, called Lighting the Way: Philosophical Role Models of the Past and Present. We frequently hear questions about how to find a Stoic role model or mentor, so we decided to create an event to explore this important topic. While the conference is primarily oriented toward Stoicism, we are interested in role models from many different traditions—anyone who represents wisdom and can help us live a good life!

Some of the ancient and modern philosophical role models we will cover:

• Marcus Aurelius

• Seneca

• Epictetus

• Hipparchia

• Thich Nhat Hanh

• Anne Frank

Speakers include:

• Sharon Lebell, bestselling author of The Art of Living: The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness

• The Stoic Mom author and public philosopher Meredith Kunz

• Ranjini George, award-winning writer and writing instructor at University of Toronto

• Life coach and mentor Scott Perry

• Mental health specialist and mentor Scott Corey

• Eve Riches, autism mentor and co-founder of Stoicare

• Simon Drew, poet, musician and founder of The Walled Garden

• Brittany Polat, Stoicare co-founder and president

Tickets are by donation and can be purchased here.

And a bonus announcement…Stoic fiction!

If you are interested in Stoic fiction, you may have a chance to read my new mystery novel The Lost Discourses through Substack! I will announce more soon. If Stoic adventure/mystery appeals to you, please leave me a comment below so I can gauge interest.