The things we desire are nothing at all. We assign meaning to them. We give the pleasures and luxuries in life their meaning. Often, we become controlled by such external things. However, if we strip it down, we will see these things in a different light. As they truly are.
Author Ryan Holiday called them contemptuous expressions. This idea comes from the Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Where in his personal diary, later published to become the book “Meditations,” describes it as “removing the legend that encrusts them.”
Here are some examples from Marcus Aurelius:
Roasted meat is just dead animal. Wine is old, fermented grapes. Sex is just the rubbing of body parts. This purple cloak is only sheep’s wool died with shell fish blood.
Here are some other examples we can relate to:
An Acura is just a Honda, with a different emblem.
A Lexus is just a Toyota.
A Rolex is just a watch.
A private jet is just a small airplane.
Money is paper with green ink on it.
Diamonds are rocks,found in dirt and made from an intense amount of pressure from carbon.
The goal is to take a glamorous or expensive thing and remove its euphemisms. To see things as they really are. Without the perceptions we give it. Maybe, you’ll chase these things less. Or simply you won’t see the the same way.
Either way when you Strip It Down, what are they really?
Thought Provoking Question 1 : What can change in you when you start to remove the legend or meaning we give external/material things?
Dan Roman is a Husband, Father, and writer that releases a daily blog. A quick read on sharing wisdom and asking though-provoking questions.
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