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Mark Matousek: Living Like a Stoic

    —
January 23, 2024
Mindfulness

Mark Matousek: Living Like a Stoic

Mark Matousek — January 23, 2024

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When things are at their worst, says celebrated author and writing mentor Mark Matousek, Stoicism is at its best. Considered the most practical of all philosophies, Stoicism is on the rise in today’s world—for reasons you’ll hear discussed in this podcast. 

Give a listen to this educational, pragmatic, and perspective-shifting conversation with Mark and Sounds True’s Tami Simon exploring control versus acceptance; using the mind in a more skillful way; humility, proportion, and appropriate action; taking responsibility for what we’re capable of; amor fati, to love life; working with your emotions; Emerson and “the exterior life”; writing prompts for letting go of the disempowering stories we tell ourselves; choosing how we hold our memories; why Stoicism is not a form of bypassing; adversity as a path to freedom; the practice of turning the obstacle upside down; shifting your angle of vision and telling the whole truth; “cosmic optimism,” Emerson’s reality-based form of hope; asking questions and finding your own way; doubt, confusion, and struggle on the spiritual path; Emerson’s view of enlightenment; and more.

Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.

Mark Matousek, MA, is an award-winning author, teacher, and speaker whose work focuses on transformative writing for personal, professional, and spiritual development. He is the founder of The Seekers Forum, an online community for writing and self-inquiry, as well as the author of eight books. He collaborated with Ram Dass on “Still Here: Embracing Aging, Changing, and Dying,” and Sogyal Rimpoche on “The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying.” He has contributed to numerous anthologies and publications, including PsychologyToday.com, the New Yorker, Details, Harper’s Bazaar, The Chicago Tribune, O: The Oprah Magazine, and many others. A MacDowell Fellow, he graduated summa cum laude from the University of California, Berkeley, and is a founding member of V-Men (with Eve Ensler), an organization devoted to ending violence against women and girls. Mark is on the faculty of The New York Open Center, The Omega Institute, 1440, Esalen, Hollyhock, and Blue Spirit, Costa Rica, and offers workshops in self-inquiry and personal development internationally. His Writing To Awaken method, which has helps thousands of people around the globe world to reach their artistic and personal goals. He lives in Springs, New York.

Posted January 23, 2024
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Each week on Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon interviews leading voices in the Mind/Body/Spirit space about a vast spectrum of fascinating ideas. Since 2009, Tami and her guests have been exploring the edge of understanding, nearly 1,000 episodes on the honest work of change, including spiritual discovery, awakening, intuition, purpose, trauma, and grief.

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Mindfulness

Mark Matousek: Living Like a Stoic

Mark Matousek — January 23, 2024

When things are at their worst, says celebrated author and writing mentor Mark Matousek, Stoicism is at its best. Considered the most practical of all philosophies, Stoicism is on the rise in today’s world—for reasons you’ll hear discussed in this podcast. 

Give a listen to this educational, pragmatic, and perspective-shifting conversation with Mark and Sounds True’s Tami Simon exploring control versus acceptance; using the mind in a more skillful way; humility, proportion, and appropriate action; taking responsibility for what we’re capable of; amor fati, to love life; working with your emotions; Emerson and “the exterior life”; writing prompts for letting go of the disempowering stories we tell ourselves; choosing how we hold our memories; why Stoicism is not a form of bypassing; adversity as a path to freedom; the practice of turning the obstacle upside down; shifting your angle of vision and telling the whole truth; “cosmic optimism,” Emerson’s reality-based form of hope; asking questions and finding your own way; doubt, confusion, and struggle on the spiritual path; Emerson’s view of enlightenment; and more.

Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.

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This conversation offers genuine transmission—not just concepts about awakening, but the palpable presence of realized teachers exploring the growing edge of spiritual understanding together. Originally aired on Sounds True One.

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