“Don’t hope that events will turn out the way you want, welcome events in whichever way they happen: this is the path to peace.”

~ Epictetus

Stoic philosophy was created as an antidote – a psychological treatment – for times of difficulty and uncertainty. Its lessons have endured for two thousand years because they are eminently practical, grounded, and inarguable. Because stoicism was founded on common sense – not faith – it provides a clear understanding of what makes us suffer and how to counteract the forces in our life that wreak havoc on our mental wellbeing and happiness.

In this new online writing course, you’ll explore six time-tested Stoic principles to help you stay balanced and focused with resolve in this period of enormous political, moral, social, and spiritual challenges. Incorporating the wisdom of Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Montaigne, and others, Mark will guide you on a Stoic journey of mental health and self-understanding intended to stabilize your mind, heart, and spirit, with the wisdom to prevent being overwhelmed by events in the world.

LESSON OVERVIEW

Week One: Recognize the Limits of Your Control
We suffer when we believe we are powerless. In this first teaching, Mark invites you to explore the parameters of your personal control and tools for reducing anxiety, neutralizing self-judgment, and practicing ‘informed acceptance’.

Week Two: Protect Your Inner World
No one can disrupt your inner world without your permission. In this second lesson, you do a thorough inventory of how you conspire with outside forces that threaten your well-being, and how you can guard your mind and heart in the midst of negativity and outrage.

Week Three: Turn Your Obstacles Upside Down
Every situation contains the seeds of its own potential solutions. Paradoxically, it’s by confronting adversity without evasion, including worst case scenarios, that you reveal the optimal way forward, as you’ll learn from the Stoics in this third lesson.

Week Four: Move Beyond Hatred and Polarization
“What is bad for the bee is bad for the hive,” noted the emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Even amidst extreme polarization, it’s possible to maintain a view of the whole and safeguard our humanity. This week, you focus on the divisions within the prevent you from living as if this were true.

Week Five: Practice Your Essential Virtues
Virtue is the path to happiness, the Stoics taught. Yet how little time most of spend cultivating our key virtues. In this lesson, you examine your strong and weak virtue points, and aspects of your character that require mindful cultivation.

Week Six: Be Happy with the Life You Have
The timeless practice of Amor fati – learning to love your present existence, with all its imperfections – is essential to resilience and adaptation. This last step on our Stoic journey to mental health is an invitation to self-acceptance, opening to conditions as they are in order to optimize well-being and wisdom.

These lessons will help you:

~ Worry less about the things you cannot control
~ Take the ‘overhead view’ of hardship
~ Turn your obstacles upside down through ingenuity
~ Accept your life with all of its imperfections
~ Overcome negative emotions and destructive stories
~ Practice virtue in the face of evil

The Stoics understood that powerlessness is a prime cause of suffering. Only by recognizing the limits of our power – the plain truths of our human condition – can we possibly hope to be happy and free. Only by acknowledging our vulnerability, as limited parts of a greater whole, do we come to recognize the sovereignty we have over our own minds. Knowing that “no one can hurt us without our permission,” to paraphrase that great Stoic Mahatma Gandhi, reminds us that we are not powerless victims in the game of life. Instead, we can become mindful actors, capable of choosing our responses to hardship and how we navigate stormy waters.

HOW THE ONLINE CLASS WORKS

In the week prior to the start of the class, you will receive an invitation to join the Google Group for the class where all assignments, individual work and Mark’s weekly comments will be posted. Using Google Groups allows the class to read, comment and support each other’s work in a positive and nurturing environment.

Each Monday, for the duration of the class, a new lesson will be posted to the Google Group. Students post their work to the Group by the following Saturday evening. Assignments should be no more than 1,000 words.

On Sunday and Monday, Mark responds to your submission in writing. His comments are focused on insight, authenticity of voice, and emotional honesty not writing technique, prose style, or grammar. His responses offer additional prompts for deeper exploration of the subject. Students who wish not to share with the group can send their work privately to Mark.

Two group Zoom sessions will be held to provide an opportunity for students to ask questions and talk together about their work. These are the only two live sessions throughout the seven weeks.

Zoom Session 1: Monday, September 16 at 6:00 p.m. Eastern
Zoom Session 2: Monday, October 7 at 6:00 p.m. Eastern

Register Early and Save!

Early Registration Tuition: $379 USD
(Register Before Monday, August 5)

Full Online Class Tuiton: $447 USD