Our daily rituals
- Gavin Moffat
- Apr 6, 2023
- 2 min read
We’ve shared our thoughts and experiences about daily rituals several times over the past 11 months, their importance in establishing a cycle that provides comfort and discomfort, stability and familiarity despite changing surroundings and their relevance on continuous learning and growth.
One of my rituals is reading from @dailystoic (The Daily Stoic), a compilation from @ryanholiday and @stevehanselman (Stephen Hanselman). The book is 366 meditations on wisdom, perseverance, and the art of living. I picked it up in a supermarket in Malinda in Kenya, of all places.
I’ve been flirting with Stoic thought and practise for a good part of my life and have never really taken it too seriously. Three years ago @richmulholland dropped a quote, if I recall it was Epictetus, into one of his presso and suddenly, it all seemed real and relevant.
The book has been my companion since June 2022, finding surfaces to rest on in Mauritius, Phuket, Singapore, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, India and Nepal. That’s quite a feat considering the luggage limitation of these intrepid journeyers. @ingridlotze also loves to dip in and out of The Daily Stoic, finding the insights and wisdom oddly relevant to that moment in time.
One of the aspects that make this daily ritual more enjoyable is when it's accompanied by an outstanding cup of coffee. First prize is @ingridlotze using her latent barista skills to make her magical customised cup of joy, just for me. Second prize is hitting a local coffee shop. Early morning is a good time for this ritual and you’d be surprised at how few coffee shops are open at 07:00.
A recent reading from The Daily Stoic took place at Oval Bean Cafe, the smallest coffee shop that I have ever been in. There’s space for only 12 customers and not a lot of space between those dozen. The cappuccino was average and the location was great, right in centre of Hauz Khas, a village/suburb in Delhi. The quote was from Marcus Aurelius, a mainstay of Stoicism: “Today I escaped from the crush of circumstances, or better put, I threw them out, for the crush wasn’t from outside me but in my own assumption.”
It’s not so much this particular quote that holds importance, it's about the joy of the daily ritual. Something that keeps me focussed on my own growth and in this particular case, allows me to put into practice something I have learnt, reflect on my progress and course change if needed.
Daily rituals are important, whether it's getting up at 5 and exercising, making an early morning cup of tea or coffee as a meditative practice, taking ½ hour to reflect on yesterday and plan for today. The options are legion.
Do you have a daily ritual and how does it add to your life?
----------------------------------- @ingridlotze @gavinmoffat Join the journey: https://linktr.ee/7tshirtseach ----------------------------------- Two individuals. Wife and husband. Business partners. Adventurers. Scuba divers.
nomad / work / lifestyle #NomadWorkLifestyle. Suitcase only fits 7t-shirts each.
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