I was introduced to Stoicism before I became truly aware of it. In 2016, I used to work in a digital marketing agency and one day a colleague mentioned he’d bought copies of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations and, since we both liked to geek out about ancient history every now and then, asked if I’d like to have one of the copies.
I read the Meditations and found interest in the teachings of Marcus Aurelius, though other things took my attention and I eventually forgot about it.
Fast forward to 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic and I found myself out of a job and feeling extremely anxious and depressed with my current situation.
I felt lost and needed some kind of mindset shift to feel more like myself again and it was around this time I discovered Ryan Holiday’s work and his podcast The Daily Stoic.
Through listening to the podcast, it helped me to gain a better understanding of what Stoicism is and its principles.
It inspired me to go back to Marcus’ Meditations and dive deeper into the text and come away with a greater appreciation for him and the philosophy.
I’ve since been reading a lot of different texts about Stoicism and trying to understand it more.
On a personal level, I’ve found the philosophy has helped me to develop a better mental health routine for myself, given me a tool to manage my social anxiety and look for ways to be more thoughtful about the world and help the Common Good.
I’m Jamie Ryder and this is my #PathsToFlourishing story.
Jamie Ryder is a marketer and copywriter with an interest in popular culture and mental health. He writes on themes of superheroes, positive mental health and Stoicism on his website The Comic Vault and you can find him on Twitter @_Jamie_Ryder_.
This is a #PathsToFlourishing story published as part of a series of stories inspired by the Stoicon-x Women 2021 theme: Practical Paths to Flourishing.
Paths to Flourishing 