This is WIP and my attempt at explaining what a philosophy of life is and writing down the major influences my personal philosphy of life has had. It will take time, but I'm going to slowly chip away at it and give it shape.
What is a philosphy of life?
Philosophy is a deep and broad subject, it's even hard to define. Most topics within it, I would say, do not really matter when it comes to a philosophy of life. The origins of morality, determinsim, theoretical physics, structured logic, and the like. They're deeply interesting philosophical subjects, but they have a relatively small impact on my life. When I think about my philosphy of life, I am concerned about the values that can help me guide my decisions, the philosophies that influence those values as I attempt to reach the overall objective. That objective is to be satisfied of the choices I've made and the life I've led. So that when, if life gives me the priviledge, I get to look at death straight in the face, I can be tranquil that I led a life I can be proud of.
My Philosphy of Life
Broadly speaking, there's four philosophies that have influenced my values the most, some have influenced me more than others. I take none of them at face value nor in their entirety. I would never call my self a stoic or an existensialist. I'll list them out here as a start and will later on write more about them.
Stoicism
This has been my primary influence. It started with GG gifting me Ryan Holiday's "The Obstacle is the Way" and I've gone deeper and deeper. There's something I find fundamental about being a human and that hasn't changed since the time of the greeks. The main stoic virtues of courage, wisdom, temperance, and justice. These feel like universal truths about leading a good life, being a good person.
Existensialism
This was my outlet when confronted wih Stoicism's 'logos'. I don't believe in a benevolent and universal plan. I believe we're just a coincidence without any objective meaning. However, I believe life is full of meaning, the one we create ourselves. Existential philosphy faces this absurdity head-on.
Evolutionary Psychology
Ever since my uncle Javier recommended The Moral Animal while I was at UT, I haven't been able to see the world differently. It explains so much about our contemporary life given our "monkey brain" in modern world.
Mindfulness
This is a bit of a weird one and almost made it into the cocktail. It is also the one I've had the hardest time practicing, but I have strong belief about what it can do and I try to incorporate it more into my life. That's why it is here. It is concepts like stillness from stoicism, meditation, the assessment of the human condition from buddhism, and our interdependence as a universe. As Zoe puts it -> "Que eres eterno, que todos somos lo mismo y venimos del mismo lugar."
Cocktail
There's a cocktail of other ideas that I can't really name as a whole philosophies. Things like an advenure spirit, sport, romantic aesthetics, craftsmanship, relational psychology, passion and love.