Marcus Aurelius, Minerva and Me

I first became interested in Stoic philosophy as a way to deal with difficult, emotionally charged situations. University risk managers are responsible for handling a wide range of situations faced by our institutions. In some cases, those situations involve a tragic event. Fires and tornadoes can destroy university property and endanger lives. Faculty and staff can be injured on the job. Car accidents can cause injuries and even fatalities. Risk managers are responsible for handling these situations and resolving them to the best of our abilities in compassionate, ethical, and practical ways.

It is often not easy. The people involved in these losses are frequently and understandably upset. They may, consciously or subconsciously, take out their frustration on the risk manager who’s handling the case. In my experience, philosophy in general and Stoic thinking in particular helps get the job done right in a thoughtful and considerate way. Brave soldiers are known for having stoic courage, but you need not be fighting in a war to benefit from this way of thinking.

The more I learned about Stoicism, the more I realized I don’t need to wait for something bad to happen to benefit from the philosophy. Stoicism helps us remain even-minded and rational when things get dicey, but why wait until things get dicey to think in a balanced, rational way? My interest in Stoicism led me to related, yet not specifically Stoic, nuggets of wisdom. Some are from a Greek philosopher named Heraclitus who was active around 500 BCE (about 200 years before the Stoics). Though not technically a Stoic, his work was foundational for the Stoics who came after him. I also found inspiration in sages of balance and the wisdom woman poetry of Proverbs.

What I hope to do here is to share how philosophy has helped me, not just in difficult times, but in all times. It’s even helped me “find” meaning and purpose. (I’ll explain later why “find” is probably the wrong word.) This is not an academic piece on philosophy. It is an example of how a non-academic who is very much engaged in the business side of higher education has applied philosophy to his work and life. It will be a quick, easy read, but perhaps it might inspire some to take a deeper dive. I’ll end with suggestions for further reading. Let’s get started.