A bell is no bell til you ring it
A song is no song til you sing it
And love in your heart wasn't put there to stay
Love isn't love til you give it away.
— Maria, in the Sound of Music

Along St. Peter’s Square

Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

— Luke, 6:38

The statue of Charity, in the portico of St. Peters

Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.

— Anne Frank

Have I told you lately, that I love you?

And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven …

This from yesterday’s Daily Stoic newsletter.
I’m quoting it wholly, because short though it may be; it packs such a powerful punch.

Your Uber driver is delayed and you want a credit for the inconvenience. Your house is damaged in a storm and you want your insurance to pay for every penny of the repairs. Someone says something pointed and personal at you, and you want them not only to apologize, but to convince you that they never meant it in the first place.

In short, you want to be made whole. And in our service economy—where the customer is always right—you often can be. Complain to Uber HQ or Amazon, complain on social media, call a lawyer. Maybe it will work. They might even compensate you for your troubles and you’ll come out ahead.

The problem is that when it comes to life, this is a very bad precedent.
Because shit happens, and Fate does not have a customer service department.
If we expect the universe (or God) to make us whole every time, we will be sorely disappointed.

The key then is to focus on not feeling like we’ve been harmed in the first place.

“Choose not to be harmed — and you won't feel harmed.

Don't feel harmed — and you haven't been.”

— Marcus Aurelius

Have you really been hurt by the fact that you’re a few minutes late? Even after paying for storm repairs, are you not financially ahead of the vast majority of the planet? Did someone else’s words really cause true damage? And on and on.

The answer is no.

To the Stoic, there is no expectation of being made whole, because the Stoic strives to reject the idea of a loss having been incurred in the first place.

The newsletter and the journal are my guides when it comes to navigating my day to day life.

You should check them out.
And to the folks at The Daily Stoic, you have my undying gratitude for such a wonderful project :)

It was the hour of four in the afternoon, and already in hillside homesteads the day was nearly done.

There was everywhere an air of that sweet, old-fashioned leisure which the world has nearly lost.

It lingered in the slant sunlight that threw shadows across the winding road...

— Florence Bone (1875–1971), The Morning of To‑Day, 1907

Spent yesterday and today doing loads of writing.
One was a project for a friend.
The other, was another project for me :)

So even though, it isn’t here. I’m done :)

A thought only really lives until it has reached the boundary line of words; it then becomes petrified and dies immediately; yet it is as everlasting as the fossilised animals and plants of former ages.

Its existence, which is really momentary, may be compared to a crystal the instant it becomes crystallised.

As soon as a thought has found words it no longer exists in us or is serious in its deepest sense.

When it begins to exist for others it ceases to live in us; just as a child frees itself from its mother when it comes into existence.

— Arthur Schopenhauer

The Bridge of Angels (Ponte Sant’Angelo), leading to the Castel Sant’Angelo (Hadrian’s Castle)

It took me a half an hour to slowly traverse it :)
It was that beautiful.