Breakfast with Seneca: A Letter from Holywell, Wales
On Beneficial Reading Program; Taking Charge of your Life; and On Trusting Friends
Hello friend,
I’m writing this letter to you from the small town of Holywell in Northern Wales. This village, in the county of Flintshire, is surrounded by an inexplicable sense of mysticism. It’s a sort of place where you find yourself willing to open your mind to the unknown or to attempt to imagine the impossible - that is, at least, my definition of a mystical experience.
From the moment you drive into this place you begin to feel how your thoughts begin to slow down. This village is protected from tempests and storms by its surrounding hills, but those hills have another power, a power that comes close to magic. They can shift your mind’s attention away from the external world and direct it to your inner citadel. It feels as if those hills can heal your heart from equally difficult inner tempests and storms of the spirit.
The café, where I’m writing this, is not far from St. Winifred’s Well. St. Winifred, the patron saint of the well, was a Catholic martyr from the 7th century. Legend has it that she was beheaded by a prince consumed by lust, only to be miraculously revived. The well is believed to have originated from the spot where her severed head fell.
In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been starting my day with reading a letter or two written by the Roman philosopher Seneca. I don’t want to cheapen the greatness of Seneca by saying that were he alive today he would definitely have had a successful YouTube channel. Take a look at the titles of his letters: ‘Giving up career’, ‘Travel is no cure for depression’, or ‘Finding time to study’. These 3 essays were written 2000 years ago but they could easily been converted into videos that get millions of views today.
Seneca isn’t short of fame anyway. His letters influenced the Emperor Hadrian (who passed next to this yet non-existent café 2000 years ago), Dante Alighieri (the mind that imagined Hell), Michel de Montaigne (who could also have been a 16th century self-help YouTuber), and almost every philosopher, poet, leader or thinker you’ve ever heard of.
This letter to you, my dear friend, was inspired not only by the transcendent atmosphere of Holywell, but also by Seneca’s ideas. Whilst the café was busy with locals I was reading some of his early letters, and now once the café has gone quiet I would like to share with you 3 pieces of advice on 3 different topics - that of ‘Taking charge of our time’, ‘On beneficial reading program’, and ‘On Trusting Your Friends’.
Taking charge of our time
If there was only one book that I had to recommend to my child it would be Seneca’s essay On the Shortness of Life. I don’t throw statements like this easily. However, Vashik who opened that book and Vashik who finished it were two different people.
People are frugal in guarding their personal property; but as soon as it comes to squandering time they are most wasteful of the one thing in which it is right to be stingy.
I remember hearing this from my father when I was a teenager. He, of course, was repeating the words of his own dad. Everything in our life belongs to others, only time is ours. Seneca warns us that often we think that we’re destined to live forever. It’s incredibly foolish to forget our mortality, and put off sensible plans to our 50th or 60th years, aiming to begin life from a point at which few have arrived.
Without getting into much detailI have to say that I wasted a lot of my time throughout life. I wasn’t discriminate with it and although since childhood my father told me about the value of time, I didn’t fully understand the full meaning of those words. I’m grateful however, that I truly discovered this wisdom in my mid-20s and not in, let’s say, my 60s.in
On Beneficial Reading Program
I think there are two stages in a readers’ journey. In the beginning, you’re like a child who discovers different delicious tastes and flavours that the world can offer you. Soon however you begin to discover which cuisines suit more your palette, and which ingredients or dishes irritate your stomach and then you avoid them in the future.
It’s similar with books. At the start you don’t know what your interests are, so you read a lot. Then you discover that certain books are not worth your time, while others must be re-read over and over. Some books strengthen you, others poison you. (Same as it is with food)
In his second letter Seneca writes that it’s better to know one writer intimately than a hundred superficially. We should ‘ obtain each day, some aid against poverty, something against death, and likewise, against other calamities.’ Only authors who can provide this kind of defence are worth knowing intimately. I guess that’s my ambition when it comes to reading Seneca. It is to know him as deeply as I can.
On Trusting Your Friends.
Seneca wrote about friendships extensively. I have an article where you can read about his 3 types of friendships. In his third letter however, Seneca writes that once you decide to accept someone as a friend, as a true friend, you must accept them fully. He says:
Some people teach their friends to betray them by their very fear of betrayal: by being suspicious, they give the other person the right to transgress.
What we often do, according to Seneca, is that we accept someone as a friend and then make a judgements about them.
Take time to consider, whether or not to receive a person into your friendship; but once you have decided to do so, receive him, with all your heart, and speak with him as candidly, as with yourself.
In other words, do not entertain half friends.
Life is Long if You Know How to Use it.
Dear friend, I’ve to leave this café now. These are just some of the thoughts I sketched in my notebook whilst I had time. Before I leave I want to ask you, if this letter was interesting to you and if you would like to hear more from Seneca in my future editions? Please let me know in the comments or simply by hitting ‘reply’ button to this email.
And as always…
Confide tibimet
Proofread and edited by Lisa Statler
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