Athens, Greece - Where it all started

Not that I needed an excuse to go anywhere, but in 2019, I had the perfect ruse to go to Athens for the weekend—the Stoicon 2019! 

Before you start thinking that it was a gathering of stoics and people with poker faces, let me set this straight. Stoicon is the Modern Stoicism Conference, where people who practice Stoicism (the ancient Greek philosophy), who are interested in Stoicism, or who are curious to know about Stoicism, meet for a weekend. I've never been to one and I had some doubts, but the thought of attending a Stoicism conference held right at the city where it first started was way too enticing to pass up.

Cotsen Hall, American School of Classical Studies, Athens, Greece - Venue of Stoicon 2019

The Stoicon weekend experience 

Before Stoicon 2019, I've never actually met anyone in real life who practiced Stoicism. From 2013 when I first read about Stoicism up until the Stoicon, I've considered myself as an interested party, one who reads about Stoicism and occasionally applies what she's read in real life.  Being in an auditorium full of people who knew about Stoicism and who probably knew all of Marcus Aurelius's and Epictetus's words by heart felt intimidating, but it also felt like I was finally meeting all my classmates.

My fellow attendees (AKA classmates) were artists, writers, psychologists, educators, tech people - you name it. The conference reminded me of how important it is to be part of a community where you not only geek out on ancient texts but also learn from how others apply Stoicism in their personal lives and in their field of work. I also realized that over the years, I have grown in my Stoic practices and that it is time to stop thinking of myself as a dabbler in Stoicism.

The Temple of Olympian Zeus

I had doubts about the topics being too academic and less practical, but the conference turned out quite well balanced. The topics ranged from Stoicism as the basis for a resilience training course for the US army to Stoic journaling. Surprisingly, I enjoyed topics where the speakers presented ancient texts, particularly the keynote about the art of paying attention from Katerina Ierodiakonou. She explored texts from Epictetus, which made me change my view on the practice of mindfulness. Because Stoicism is a social philosophy, paying attention does not only mean contemplating about your self. The kind of mindfulness that Stoic philosophers refer to involve empirical practice, and includes understanding how your mind works, exercising reasoning, and applying ethics.

This explained why even though I found similarities in Stoicism and the things I learned from my 10-day Vipassana meditation, I struggled to meditate in the usual sitting still way. My form of meditation has now evolved to reading Stoic texts, writing my reflections, and evaluating how my day went. Both kinds of meditation help me to focus, but I benefit more from the feedback loop in the Stoic way of meditating.

The view of the Acropolis from Lycabettus Hill

The session on Stoicism and Creativity was interesting too. I didn't agree with some of the views expressed in the session, but it turned out to be a good exercise of reasoning. In the end, I decided that being a Stoic and being creative are not mutually exclusive. I think you can practice Stoicism and be an artist, poet, or writer. Excelling in creative pursuits does not equate to wallowing in sorrow and pain for inspiration (the romanticized depiction of an artist). 

In between sessions, I got to meet other attendees who gave tips on how I can find and start my own Stoic community in Amsterdam. Unfortunately, I didn't make any immediate action (Marcus Aurelius probably has something to say about this because even emperors dealt with procrastination!), but I found helpful online groups.

More about Stoicism 

The first thing that you need to know about Stoicism is that the philosophy is not about being emotionless (the meaning of the adjective stoic). My definition of Stoicism is it's a philosophy that helps me navigate life by being aware of my judgments and perceptions, figuring out if something lies within my control or not, and applying a set of virtues (or at least try) to the things that I do. The internet is a wonderful place, there are plenty of resources if you want to learn more. If you're interested in knowing more about Stoicism, check out the following:

• r/Stoicism: Stoicism FAQs on Reddit
• The Daily Stoic: Getting started on Stoicism and Stoic practices
• Modern Stoicism: Book recommendations
• The Daily Stoic 366 Meditations: My go-to book for daily Stoic snippets