What is it in Ourselves That We Should Prize?

The education most of us have had taught us how to know the answer, how to be right, and how to move quickly to solve problems. But, by and large, it didn't tell us much about how to be true to the one life we have, nor what kinds of practices of creativity, inquiry and attention might support us in that project. 

This episode of Turning Towards Life is a conversation about how we might start to dignify and honour the unique possibilities of our own lives, guided by the wisdom of Marcus Aurelius, and hosted as always by Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace.

This is Turning Towards Life, a weekly live 30 minute conversation hosted by Thirdspace in which Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn dive deep into big questions of human living. Find us on FaceBook to watch live and join in the lively conversation on this episode. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website, and you can also watch and listen on Instagram, YouTube, and as a podcast on Apple, Google and Spotify.

Our source this week is chosen for us by Justin.

What is it in ourselves that we should prize?

Not just transpiration (even plants do that).

Or respiration (even beasts and wild animals breathe.)

Or being struck by passing thoughts.

Or jerked like a puppet by your own impulses.

Or moving in herds.

Or eating, and relieving yourself afterwards.

Then what is to be prized?

An audience clapping? No. No more than the clacking of their tongues. Which is all that public praise amounts to - a clacking of tongues.

So we throw out other people's recognition. What's left for us to prize?

I think it's this: to do (and not do) what we were designed for. That's the goal of all trades, all arts, and what each of them aims at: that the thing they create should do what it was designed to do. The nurseryman who cares for the vines, the horse trainer, the dog breeder - this is what they aim at. And teaching and education - what else are they trying to accomplish?

So that's what we should prize. Hold onto that, and you won't be tempted to aim at anything else.

And if you can't stop prizing a lot of other things? Then you'll never be free - free, independent, imperturbable. Because you'll always be envious and jealous, afraid that people might come and take it all away from you. Plotting against those who have them - those things you prize. People who need those things are bound to be a mess - and bound to take out their frustration on the gods. Whereas to respect your own mind - to prize it - will leave you satisfied with your own self, well integrated into your community and in tune with the gods as well - embracing what they allot you, and what they ordain.

Marcus Aurelius (121-180), from 'Meditations'

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