A Stoic take on Mental Health: The Blanket Covers
Fall has arrived: Bringing with it chilly mornings and a beautiful barrage of true colors. It’s now time for hot chocolate, sweaters, movie nights, and relaxation. What is most interesting, I’ve found, is that as the weather shifts with the seasons – a spike in stress and mental health concerns in the world of academia for college students. This season, with the iconic contradiction of external beauty and internal struggle with motivation and life as a whole, has struck my life. As I have with each and every past passion blog, I ask myself what insight could ancient roman philosophy do to provide insight into these struggles in my life.
Opening book (chapter) 5 of Marcus Aurelius’s book Meditations, I am met with a message that is so profound with its exigence.
“1. At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself “I have to go to work – as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for – the things I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?”
What do we gain from this statement from Marcus? We learn first and foremost, that through it being almost a self-reflective journal, he is demanding this from himself – not to others. Even as a highly powerful and respected Roman Emperor and philosopher, he struggled to get out of bed just as we do.
As I’ve, coincidently, slept through the majority of my alarms this week, this brings into perspective putting meaning behind such a seemingly simple and non-consequential action of hitting snooze on the alarm. But what if meditations and stoic philosophy is proposing that even the smallest of actions can have major implications in our lives?
But Marcus isn’t implying to be hyper-disciplined or gritty, but rather being intentional about what it means in our small actions with respect to our meanings in life.
(1. continued) “But it’s nicer here (referring to the bed) … So you were born to feel “nice”?”
In my life, as well as yours as a college student, sometimes it’s more effective to instead of finding motivation – looking for perspective and clarity can actually bring more enthusiasm than anything else would.
All throughout stoic philosophy, we are called to respond, see, view, and act upon the events of our life in the 3rd person’s viewpoint rather than the first. To behave in a high-tension situation as you would advise your younger sibling to. To not overreact to a bad grade, acting as an older more understanding version of yourself.
With that, maybe tomorrow morning consider your purpose and intention before pressing that snooze button – although it’s as tempting as ever.
Written by Ethan McCarthy | Student at Penn State University | 10/26/23