"The Best Way Out is Through": Anti s/Stoicism

It's always interesting to see how our good ideas get warped via implementation in human experience. Take Stoicism for example. The Animals can endorse the original tenet that it's our judgment of events that trips us and all Animals up and that those judgments are entirely up to us. The poet Robert Frost wrote "The best way out is through" which may seem is anti-Stoicism, but he also says "unless there's no other way out." Warthog, Osprey, and Fish chime in to support going through events in the moment they happen. 

https://whatisstoicism.com/what-is-stoicism/

Transcript

I'm Lizanne Flynn. I'm a master healer who holds space for any Earthling as they reunite body and soul. I am a bridge for relationships between all species so that 

the heart bond becomes stronger, deeper, and more loving. I serve in the roles of animal communicator, medium, and medical intuitive, and I use the tools of shamanic journeying and soul retrieval 

to support all Earthlings in their recovery from past trauma. I'm certified as a canine massage therapist and Reiki Master Teacher. This is the Animals' iView podcast.

As faithful listeners might have picked up by now, I'm always on the lookout for bringing whatever piques my curiosity and therefore that of the Animals I represent to you who listen in case what we come across might also be something that piques your curiosity as well. Maybe it's part of my being neurodivergent - side note, we'll definitely have a podcast on that topic soon and build on what came before, that of the identifier of highly sensitive - and a member of our species who is more than casually interested in a number of different subjects. There's clearly a theme running through what I'm deeply interested in and that's seeing the unity in the perception of duality as well as understanding how as a member of an Animal species I can be more Animal-like in my worldview. Because as the Animals know, the more we embrace diversity in our worldview, the more united we are in our individuality. Which has always been something that humans struggle with because our default is based on the alleged strength of our individual mind(s) plural yet we also don't recognize that this worldview pits us against each other naturally. It's a hierarchy of who's on top and more accurately which predator is on top that is wedded to our biological DNA of being both predator as well as prey. And still, we've got to start somewhere, right? We've got to start addressing and hopefully not being seen as confronting those human-centric structures and belief systems that no longer serve our highest and best good. And you know, I think with us it's two steps forward, one step back. Because as much as we value new information coming forward we also have a bad habit of continuing that structure of whoever has the most information wins rather than whoever contributes to the overall wisdom we have is seen as part of our collective winning. It's a subtle distinction then again as Warthog reminds us - it can be as plain as the horns that extend outward from your nose which of course capitalizes on the nose itself and that being one of our appendages that we can't see and the phrase - as plain as the nose on your face - is a bit of an enigma. Because others can see the nose on our face but we cannot.

I came across the philosophy of stoicism, capital S and not to be confused with stoicism, lower case s, which I mean, how can you possibly be confused with that? The Animals and I kid, of course, because everyone would be confused with this! It's interesting that by claiming a word and a sound that's defined as "indifference to pleasure or pain" somehow yields an entire belief system and philosophy of life that the Animals say is far from what other species perceive how life is to be lived on Earth. I think one of the main reasons they're taking this stance is that they know their lives on this planet and what we know and understand of those lives is still uncomfortably close to being seen as stoic. And all because we as a species haven't declared them to be sentient and because we also denigrate that which we don't understand for fear that it will somehow knock us from our position on top of the heap of sentient species as it were. We're completely carnivorous where facts and knowledge and information are concerned and oblivious to the wisdom of how to simply be with other species on the planet. So when another way of being - a philosophy - "the most basic beliefs, concepts, and attitudes of an individual or group" comes along or is developed that makes us feel better about our place in the world and helps us - or so we think - have the answers to life on Earth, we tend to glom onto or seize said philosophy by the lapels and drag it alongside us as we go through life. And in this particular case the essence of capital s Stoicism not only numbs one or attempts to numb one to a certain degree to human experience, we create just another frosted window as the Animals are saying through which certainly the contrast of life is muted so that we don't feel it as much. But so too is the light of that partnership, the joy and our raison deter - reason for being - is equally muted. It's a separatist belief structure that might feel good in the moment and yet doesn't really let one loose inside of human experience. So that everything can be felt and worked with. So that instead of indifference there can be clarity and neutrality which to some might look like indifference, due to the "Animals aren't sentient beings" decree that's been led by science for generations.

There's a link that I'll put in the podcast notes that gives a brief review of the tenets of capital s Stoicism and I'll quote from the article right now as well. "Stoicism, or Stoic philosophy, is a philosophy of personal ethics and a methodology for seeking practical wisdom in life. A key principle of the ancient Stoics was the belief that we don’t react to events; we react to our judgments about them, and the judgments are up to us. They also advised that we should not worry about things beyond our control as everything in life can be divided into two categories – things that are up to us and things that are not.

Stoicism is not so much an ethic as it is a paradoxical recipe for happiness. It's been within our human-centric worldview since 300 BC and the four cardinal virtues of Stoicism are wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice. Wisdom is subdivided into good sense, good calculation, quick-wittedness, discretion, and resourcefulness. Courage is subdivided into endurance, confidence, high-mindedness, cheerfulness, and industriousness. Temperance is subdivided into good discipline, seemliness, modesty, and self-control. Justice is subdivided into piety, honesty, equity, and fair dealing." From my reading of the link and article a fair amount of Stoicism is about control which again, the Animals would chime in and say "We don't have no stinkin control!" in a nod to Blazing Saddles as well as our need for control, again, cue the "Animals are not sentient". Its modern-day application would look something like this - Negative Visualization – The Stoics recommended that we spend time imagining that we have lost the things we value. That our wife has left us, our car was stolen, or we lost our job. Doing this, the Stoics thought, would make us value our wife, our car, and our job more than we otherwise would. Dichotomy of Control – distinguishing between the things over which we have complete control and the things over which we have no control at all.

Internalize Goals – Stoics found a way to retain their tranquility despite their involvement with the world around them: They internalized their goals. Their goal was not to change the world but to do their best to bring about certain changes. Even if their efforts proved to be ineffectual, they could nevertheless rest easy knowing that they had accomplished their goal: They had done what they could.

Fatalism towards the Past & Present – The Stoics advocated for fatalism towards the past and present, there are things you can change and act on in the future. The past has already happened, it can’t be changed. You don’t have complete control over the present in this very moment. Self-Denial – As an extension of negative visualization, “Besides contemplating bad things happening, we should sometimes live as if they had happened.” Stoic Meditation – regularly assessing your progress in your practice of Stoicism.

And finally what Stoicism is not - Stoicism (upper case ‘S’) is not the same thing as stoicism (lower case ‘s’). This causes confusion in that people often wrongly think that Stoics seek to be passive and unemotional. Stoicism was not an elitist philosophy only intended for powerful Romans – it was embraced by people from many different walks of life. Stoicism is not an individualistic philosophy focusing only on self-discipline. It focuses on the social responsibility of loving one’s neighbor, forming virtuous relationships, and helping others. And you know, the Animals would be the first to say that the discipline of self is key yet they would find their way to that in a very different way which is naturally, through. To quote from the poet Robert Frost, “He says the best way out is always through. / And I can agree to that, or in so far / As that I can see no way out but through.” Because it is in all beings' self-mastery of choosing our thoughts and of choosing how to respond to the emotions our bodies gift to us that can self-determine our path on this planet. It's not through imagining what could go wrong, it's how one responds to what actually is going wrong. And learning how to be flexible in the fact of these incredibly powerful emotions that threaten to bring us to our knees with their depths and excruciating clarity. Frost kinda sorta left the door open for Stoicism at the end of his quote by the last - "as that, I can see now way out but through." Most human-centric belief systems are like escape pods launched from the minds of humans so that the contrast that so clearly illuminates the stars that shine all of the time can be seen. We continually seek the least painful way out and yet even that - the least painful way - is not something the Animals seek. It helps if we look at seeing something through so to speak and leaning into the realities of our present will bring about the very things that we seek. Like for instance abundance. How many times do you think Osprey dives down to the surface of a lake in an attempt to get food for itself? Talk about living on the edge! There are no stinkin' grocery stores for Osprey. There's just the wild and the leap into the hunt as a predator for prey that is still within the unified duality of abundance being all around them. How many times do you think that Fish swims under the surface of that lake seeking shelter while constantly worrying about Osprey flying overhead and whether today might be their last day in Fish experience on planet Earth? Talk about living on the edge and seeking to go through this cycle of life and death partnership. There is no stinkin living fear-free for Fish if they are going to thrive and pass their wisdom on to their next generation. They must swim free and explore their environment and feed themselves and have young just as the Osprey must do. And while their ways likely fly in the face of both small and capital s stoicism, there's one thing we must not ever doubt with any other species on Earth save our own - their deep passion for their lives just as they are gives them the grace that they need to see their way through their lives. By feeling fully and deeply and embracing every single seeming contradiction as if they have no better way to be - because they don't. And frankly, neither do we. And at least, that's how the Animals see it.                                                              

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