Episode Details

Marcus Aurelius famously reminds himself that we don't need to retreat to the countryside or the seashore to find peace. In this episode, recorded from my new office in an old textile mill in Dundee, I reflect on why I think Marcus was theoretically right but practically wrong, at least for those of us who aren't sages.

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Inner peace may ultimately be a state of mind, but we're not perfect practitioners. Our surroundings affect us. Sometimes getting away from the noise, finding somewhere that feels comfortable, familiar, and peaceful, genuinely makes practicing Stoicism easier.

Since moving to Dundee, I've noticed a quieting in myself that I can't really attribute to anything else. Life hasn't become less demanding. I'm currently cramming roughly 40 hours of work into Monday through Wednesday, then spending Thursday and Friday as a full-time dad while protecting my weekends for my family. If anything, I'm doing more than ever.

Yet something about this place feels different. My little office overlooking Dundee, the seagulls and church bells outside the window, our flat beside a park, the city's working-class character, and even the coastal air remind me of places and people from my childhood. After several enormously busy years of marriage, fatherhood, building a business, raising investment, working full-time, and moving repeatedly, I feel unexpectedly at home here.

So this episode isn't really a lesson. It's a reflection on the role our environment can play in our ability to find some peace. Theoretically, Marcus was right: the perfect Stoic shouldn't need a particular place in order to achieve tranquility. But none of us are perfect Stoics, and sometimes finding the right place can make the work of becoming better considerably easier.

I also share a few updates at the end of the episode, including a request for help choosing the subject of a TED talk I'm working on, some early details about my forthcoming book Living Stoicism, and an invitation to a free community Q&A.