This is WIP, will probably always be in progress, and it is 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 in an effort to give clarity to my thoughts. .
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 daily life. When I think about my personal philosphy of life, I am concerned about the values that can help guide my decisions, the philosophies that influence those values as I attempt to reach the overall objective. That objective is to be satisfied with the choices I've made and the life I've led. So, if life gives me the priviledge, when at old age, I get to look at death straight in the face, I can be tranquil that I led a life I can be proud of. The objective is also to avoid the default philosophy of life, which is to spend one's days seeking an interesting mix of affluence, social status and pleasure.
My Philosphy of Life
Broadly speaking, there are 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 existentialist. I'll list them out here as a start and will later on write more about them.
Cocktail
Before even getting into the main four philosophies, there's a cocktail of other ideas that I can't really call whole philosophies. However, they have deeply influenced how I think about life. A spirit of adventure, sport, romantic aesthetics, relational psychology, craftsmanship, passion and love. These I owe to the people I am close to and the ideas they've shared with me. The places I've been to and the impact they've had on me.
Stoicism
This has been my primary influence. It started with GG gifting me Ryan Holiday's "The Obstacle is the Way" during University, a time when I really needed more direction for my drive. There's something I find fundamental about being a human and that hasn't really changed since the time of these greek philosophers. The main stoic virtues of courage, wisdom, temperance, and justice. These feel like universal truths about leading a good life, being a good person.
You can read more about my thoughts on stoicism here.
Existensialism
This was my outlet when confronted wih Stoicism's logos. I don't believe in a benevolent and universal plan, god or whatever we want to call it. I believe we're just a coincidence without any objective meaning. However, I believe life is full of meaning, the one we create ourselves. Existentialism faces this absurdity head-on.
You can read more about my thoughts on existentialism here.
Evolutionary Psychology
Ever since my uncle Javier recommended The Moral Animal, I haven't been able to see the world differently. It explains so much about our contemporary life given our "monkey brain" in a modern world. This influences how I think about me as a being interacting with all of you other beings here on this planet. It's taught me a lot about our degree of free will and the space where we do actually have the ability to act.
You can read more about my thoughts on evolutionary psychology here.
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 beliefs 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."
You can read more about my thoughts on mindfulness here.