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Bill Carder's avatar

Great read. I had been thinking about a symbol for stoicism to embrace for myself. Of course, as mentioned, a skull is often used. I was looking for something different like maybe a headland standing strong against the waves to show resilience, but as I read this for some reason the thought of buzzards feeding on a carcus came to mind or just the buzzard itself. Is that weird?

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Brittany Polat's avatar

I really like the image of a headland standing against the waves too! I've thought about using a photo of that before. I think you can use whatever symbols and imagery work for you. If buzzards remind you of the appropriate philosophical lessons, then maybe it's a good choice. That also reminds me of a line from a book I reviewed last year called Matter and Desire by Andreas Weber. He talks about the uncomfortable fact that everything alive is edible, including humans: “Eating others and being eaten (which lies ahead for all of us) figure into the same living fabric, as processes necessary to maintaining the stability of the whole and allowing it to experience itself." It's a really interesting thought and definitely one the Stoics would approve.

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Jonathan Holland's avatar

Thank you for bringing this to our attention!

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SB Wright 🇦🇺's avatar

Very interesting reading Brittany.

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Vari McKechnie's avatar

So interesting! Thank you! Off on a Stoic art treasure hunt now! 🔎

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