STOIC POETRY | The fact that we went—alone
I began my life as a young adult finding things along the way. I went out from the circumstance I knew into life which was not yet mine,...
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Kurt Bell
Aug 11, 20203 min read
STOIC POETRY | When our finding days are done
Before I was alive I'm pretty sure I simply did not exist. Oh sure, the stuff of which I am made was around, and the energy which courses...
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Kurt Bell
Aug 8, 20201 min read
STOIC POETRY | Our life—
I'd stay where I am, like those before me, and those who are now with me. It is the smart thing to do. To settle down with work, and buy...
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Kurt Bell
Aug 7, 20202 min read
STOIC POETRY | The hole along the way
I've always been one to notice the hole in the fabric of humanity, where one may press through a finger to the place outside. You can...
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Kurt Bell
Aug 6, 20202 min read
STOIC POETRY | The best seat in the house
I have long dreamed of a nice, personal room where I can work. A little office at home where I can set up a desk and chair and my stuff,...
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Kurt Bell
Aug 5, 20203 min read
STOIC POETRY | A brief time to truly live
The Great Indifference exists wherever we are not distracted by ourselves. It is the substance of the universe that isn't—not empty...
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Kurt Bell
Aug 4, 20202 min read
STOIC POETRY | More to life than living
There is so much to occupy the time of life. So much to do. So many people to know, and love, and pass the time together with. One thing...
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Kurt Bell
Aug 3, 20202 min read
STOIC POETRY | The virtue of temperance
For what reason is temperance a virtue? Why do the sages live in austerity, and the desert fathers forsake the world, and the poet love...
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Kurt Bell
Aug 1, 20202 min read
STOIC POETRY | Knowing when to stop watching
It is not easy to not watch someone else struggling with life. I am not referring to not seeing them struggle, but not watching them do...
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Kurt Bell
Jul 30, 20203 min read
STOIC POETRY | Adrift across a desert night
In his book Walden, specifically in the chapter titled "The Ponds", Henry David Thoreau describes the seasons and moods of Walden Pond as...
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Kurt Bell
Jul 29, 20202 min read
STOIC POETRY | Remembering my people at dawn
Morning is a time to remember the people in our lives. If not our very first thought, then at least after we are fully awake. Recall each...
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Kurt Bell
Jul 28, 20202 min read
STOIC POETRY | The road into night
Such a long hike to get here, now. The place where I set out from is invisible beyond those distant hills, a memory of setting out from a...
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Kurt Bell
Jul 27, 20202 min read
STOIC POETRY | A prison of consequence
I keep forgetting - fooling myself, really - that I could be in any circumstance other than the one in which I find myself now. It's fun...
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Kurt Bell
Jul 26, 20202 min read
STOIC POETRY | The way things are likely to be
Our personal nature is our most visible evidence that our will is never fully free: as how many forces of my personal being - my...
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Kurt Bell
Jul 25, 20202 min read
STOIC POETRY | Life at the atomic level
I expect my consciousness is a connect-the-dots affair; a consequence of some trillions of atoms gathered and enlivened through the...
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Kurt Bell
Jul 24, 20202 min read
STOIC POETRY | The circular value of caring for one another
I took our sick dog Ollie to the doggie E.R. yesterday. The visit was a costly, though worthwhile expense, for Ollie's sake, as well as...
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Kurt Bell
Jul 23, 20202 min read
STOIC POETRY | Walking the shore with seashells in my hand
I have such a small and precious set of values - objectives and principles to guide my life. So very few. Each one is precious to me, as...
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Kurt Bell
Jul 22, 20203 min read
STOIC POETRY | Tracing consciousness
I wonder how far down the tree of life consciousness goes? Like us, dogs are clearly aware of themselves relative to the world, and can...
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Kurt Bell
Jul 20, 20202 min read
STOIC POETRY | Arguing with myself over free will
How best might I prove myself wrong? I have this suspicion, not quite yet a belief perhaps, that free will is an illusion. How can I...
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Kurt Bell
Jul 19, 20203 min read
STOIC POETRY | Wiping glasses with an empty mind
It is a difficult thing to wipe my glasses while doing nothing else. My mind, my deep and inner mind, knows how to do this chore without...
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