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Perhaps, we can learn more if we ask ourselves: Is discipline something that comes from outside? Or from our own will and choices? And where does the joy come? This article examines Discipline and its accompanying Joy from various perspectives.
I am going to quit white sugar. I am going to learn to play the guitar. I am going to lose 10kgs. Sounds familiar? Traditionally the period of transition into the New Year is celebrated with such resolutions. Gym memberships surge in the first week of January, as do the crowds at gyms…only to taper off in the next few months, if not weeks.
I was in Marseilles, in France, last December. I was presenting a special photographic exhibition about “Paradoxes” at the opening of a congress organized by the International Institute Hermes, for the 2400 year anniversary of the Academy of Plato.
The year was 65 AD, a little less than a hundred years after the assassination of Julius Caesar and the foundation of the Roman Empire. Musonius Rufus, the foremost Stoic philosopher of his times, known by some as the “Roman Socrates”, was accused by emperor Nero to have participated in a conspiracy against him, and was exiled to a tiny and desolate Greek island called Gyaros.
Gyaros was considered a terrible place to be. Fifty years earlier the then emperor Tiberius, who wasn’t known for his charitable nature, refused to send a traitor to exile there, saying it was too harsh and devoid of human culture.
We seem to live in a world of dichotomies, a world where sharply contrasting ideas exist. For example, we can say that with all the modern technological breakthroughs, humanity is advancing and yet, we can also say that there is regression of human values as evident in the strife,
Every period in life, as in the life of a society as a whole, can be characterized through different aspects: social, economic, scientific, educational, and others. Every period is different from the previous one and from the following one, because everything changes with time.
Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, many aspects of the reality that we have been accustomed to, have changed. All at once, reality has become an unstable and inconvenient place to live in. Many of our basic needs for social gathering and human interaction became very limited. This situation had a psychological impact, and emotions such as uncertainty, confusion, anxiety and fear of the future, have been growing dramatically in our society.
It is not easy to define youth. Even if we do a lot of research, we will find that different authors throughout time have not been able to agree on an exact definition. Moreover, the concept of youth is so rich and varied in its meanings, so flexible and extraordinary, that it is impossible to find an objective, concrete and synthetic way of defining it.
As philosophers, we have enormous faith in youth and great hope in that future world that we speak about so often and of which we say so many things. We think that, deep down, none of us have ever stopped being young and, for one reason or another, have never stopped having certain anxieties either and, even though those anxieties may be more or less youthful, their roots are to be found in the same problems and in similar circumstances.
“It’s lonely at the top,” said a school-friend in jest on the eve of a school election for which I was nominated. And although I do not know to whom this tidbit of wisdom is attributed, I have often contemplated the truth behind these words.
In aspiring for the post or role of a leader, some may seek the prestige and authority which follow. The main work therefore seems to be, to make a favorable impression on those that are considering their candidature. Since there are probably others vying for the same position, a competition ensues, a race in which each one needs to outshine the other.
If we look to philosophers and great thinkers from the East and West, we may perhaps question our deep affinity for the cozy embrace of comfort. Plato’s famous allegory of the cave, speaks of the journey of the human being from ignorance towards wisdom, as one that requires daring to let go the familiar shackles and notions of truth, in order to discover a deeper and truer reality…
We speak of difficult jobs, difficult subjects, difficult psychological situations, difficult actions or circumstances, difficult people, difficult times… The list would be endless and we won’t even attempt in such a limited space to complete it or offer a solution for each of these cases. Instead, we would like to focus on the inner attitude of a person who has to face difficulty.
As a street photographer I have the opportunity to travel worldwide, to present exhibitions, to present various photography workshops, and of course to take new photographs.
From those travels there is a photograph I have always presented in my last few workshops. I use it to illustrate a “dynamic composition”, which is a composition with a lot of visual elements, allowing a dynamic lecture of the photograph. This particular photograph is not an outstanding example of such a composition, but I use it to explain an ethical concept, and to initiate a dialog with the workshop participants about whether or not it is necessary for the photographer to be involved in a situation
When 2020 began, we did not yet know the extent of the difficult times we would have to face. A short time later came the spread of a pandemic, which affected most – if not all – countries in the world, showing that in such cases what we regard as differences do not exist. We are all human beings, we are all vulnerable to sickness and we are all affected by pain.
The word ‘hero’ comes from an ancient Greek root, which literally translates to ‘protector’ or ‘defender’. Dictionary.com defines the word as “a person noted for courageous acts or nobility of character”, and popular perception recognizes a hero as one who performs deeds that are not commonly possible, or one who exhibits virtues or values that makes them stand out. So, we usually think of superheroes celebrated in movies, or victorious warriors like General Patton and Napoleon
Let us ask ourselves about one of the aspects that is most important for the human beings of our times: what are the different ways of achieving success, of standing out? There is one thing that is indisputable: all human beings, in one way or another, try to stand out, to succeed; it is like a vital necessity. It is the need to do something, but above all, something important; it is the need to act, but to act in a way that does not pass by unnoticed. It is about “being someone”, not disappearing into anonymity, ensuring that our name will be on the lips of the greatest possible number of people.