Why are you here?
In my yoga classes, I often ask the students this question. They chuckle.
They laugh because the answer is, superficially, quite obvious. To get some exercise. To move the body. To destress. To connect or reconnect with the other students in the room. There are a myriad of reasons.
However, when I pose the question, what I’m really getting after is something more profound:
Why are we in this yoga studio at all?
Why did we wake up this morning?
Why were we born?
In short, why are we here? In this place. In this time. Why?
Do you know?
Personally, I have no clue.
And that’s where the inquiry begins.
WHY I WRITE
When I created this Substack last November, I was in a dark place.
I had lost my mom six months prior. My dad and I were not speaking. My sisters and I were disconnected. My motivation in the workplace was waning. And, to top it all off, my professional and personal relationships were strained.
Everything was messy.
I was a ship in a stormy sea with no safe harbor. There was nowhere to turn. There was no rest.
And the waves kept crashing down.
Why did I start writing here? What was I trying to figure out?
I decided to review the first 20 posts and came up with a few themes:
Death
Loss
Grief
Survival
Being present
Finding beauty in the mundane
Finding meaning in the struggle
Do you see a pattern? A flow?
For me, I see an upward trajectory: from the micro perspective (death of a loved one) to the elevated, macro vantage point (finding meaning).
Like Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, or like moving from the Root Chakra (Muladhara) to the Crown Chakra (Sahasrara), I see a progression from more basic needs — a mother’s love and a sense of identity and belonging — to striving for one’s highest potential.
That’s what this Substack is about.
“To be like the rock that the waves keep crashing over. It stands unmoved and the raging of the sea falls still around it.”
It’s not about yoga and mindfulness (sorry, “The Yogi Nook”).
It’s not about death and dying.
Instead, it’s about taking everything that life throws at you and still moving forward — resilience.
It’s about examining your life and deciding to live by a code — reflection.
It’s about the journey toward fulfilling a concrete meaning — realization.
In sum, this Substack (now called “The Eudaimonic Education”) is about the ancient idea of a life well lived — eudaimonia.
THE FLOURISHING LIFE
In the Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle argues that the highest good for humans is eudaimonia.
Often translated as “flourishing” or “happiness,” eudaimonia involves leading a life that is in alignment with excellence or virtue (arete). For Aristotle, an excellent human is one who lives life well and beautifully (kalos).
The Stoics modify this approach.
To them, virtue is necessary and sufficient for eudaimonia. In this context, Stoic “virtue” does not emphasize the Christian understanding of virtue — mercy, forgiveness, self-abasement, charity and self-sacrificial love — but rather focuses on justice, honesty, moderation, simplicity, self-discipline, resolve, fortitude and courage.
Bringing it all together, the Stoics would argue that the eudaimonic life is the morally virtuous life.
In recent decades, a new branch of psychology — positive psychology — developed a questionnaire that lists six dimensions of eudaimonia:
Self-discovery;
Perceived development of one’s best potentials;
A sense of purpose and meaning in life;
Investment of significant effort in pursuit of excellence;
Intense involvement in activities; and
Enjoyment of activities as personally expressive
MOVING FORWARD
What do I take from 2,300 years of analyzing the good life?
Life is a choice.
It involves:
Taking daily, positive action
Standing for excellence
Practicing your values
Moving in harmony with nature
Pursuing the best version of yourself
And you do not settle for less.
I refuse to settle for less.
To that end, I am making a few changes to how you’ll receive my writings (and future audio):
Writing
I will publish 2x per week
The longer-form posts that you’ve read (and hopefully enjoyed) — 5-8 minutes of reading time — will be exclusively for paid subscribers
There will be a free preview (if you decide to stay as a free subscriber)
I will add a second weekly post — 1-2 minute read — that will be freely available to all
This second post will touch on one inspirational idea based on something that I’m reading, listening to or thinking about
Archives of the long-form posts will only be available for paid subscribers
Audio
I will test out my audio and podcasting equipment this week
I will add audio recordings of the long-form posts directly in Substack, so paid subscribers can listen while living their flourishing lives
Once I get the hang of that, I will then start a podcast
The podcast will include:
Meditations or something to consider during your week
Interviews with people who are living (or discovering) their flourishing life
Why am I making these changes?
I am declaring myself a writer.
I am telling you, dear reader, the Universe and Hemingway (see below) that I am ready, once and for all, to put the boxing gloves on:
Through these writings, my aspiration is to lead by example:
If I want you to play the long game, then I must be ready to play.
If I want you to leave the cave, then I must walk out into the Sun myself.
If I want you to answer the door when fate knocks …
Or climb the mountain …
Or rise from the ashes …
Then I must be prepared to do the same.
“In a way I was lucky that I experienced failure for so many years. Because there were no conventional rewards, I was forced to ask myself, Why am I doing this? Am I crazy? All my friends are making money and settling down and living normal lives. What the hell am I doing? Am I nuts? What’s wrong with me?
In the end I answered the question by realizing that I had no choice. I couldn’t do anything else. When I tried, I got so depressed I couldn’t stand it. So when I wrote yet another novel or screenplay that I couldn’t sell, I had no choice but to write another after that. The truth was, I was enjoying myself. Maybe nobody else liked the stuff I was doing, but I did. I was learning. I was getting better.
The work became, in its own demented way, a practice. It sustained me, and it sustains me still.”
-Steven Pressfield, Turning Pro [emphasis added]
I am ready to examine my life, my choices, and commit to the eudaimonic life.
To strive. To persevere. To be the unmovable rock amongst the waves.
I am ready to flourish.
Are you?