S

April   27th

TURN    IT  INSIDE  OUT

“Turn   it  inside  out and see what    it  is  like—what   it  becomes like    when    old,    sick,   or  prostituting

itself. How short-lived the praiser and praised,    the one who remembers   and the remembered.

Remembered  in  some    corner  of  these   parts,  and even    there   not in  the same    way by  all,    or  even

by  one.    And the whole   earth   is  but a   mere    speck.”

—MARCUS AURELIUS,   MEDITATIONS,    8.21

toicism is about looking at things from every angle—and certain situations are easier to understand
from different perspectives. In potentially negative situations, the objective, even superficial gaze
might actually be superior. That view might let us see things clearly without diving too much into what
they might represent or what might have caused them. In other situations, particularly those that involve
something impressive or praiseworthy, another approach, like that of contemptuous expressions, is
helpful. By examining situations from the inside out, we can be less daunted by them, less likely to be
swayed by them.
Dig into your fear of death or obscurity, and what will you find? Turn some fancy ceremony inside out
and you’ll find—what?