Daily Insight:

Let Stories Flourish

This is the tenth way that Italo Calvino defines a classic in his iconic Why Read the Classics?

This book explores why the classics matter, and if you're stumped on what a "classic" is in the first place, it offers fourteen ways to define them. Conveniently, it answers both questions at the same time; the traits that define the classics are the same traits which make them worth reading.

Definition number 10 is special.

You're unique because you exercise reason and knowledge beyond any jungle critter or savannah beast.

What isn't as unique is your will to live - your refusal of death - a spiritedness inherent to all life, one that acts as the common thread of existence.

This is the oak sapling that relentlessly stretches towards the sunlight. This is the starving polar bear that endures the freezing ocean in hope of a meal. This is the pathetic tick that hangs onto its host for dear life, and what a life it hangs for . . .

It is the Greek ψυχή (Psyche), the animated force of life that compels us forward, upwards, towards better.

For us - the creatures with knowledge - that forward tendency also rings true in our curiosity.

We like to explore, to discover, to know things.

We learn so we can find new things to learn, then do it all again.

There is no end goal, but our direction is clear: we're looking for the "theory of everything." We're trying to unfold every domain of reality so that we can understand the world in its whole—physically, socially, spiritually, morally, with not a realm left untouched, nor a question unanswered.

Classics describe this theory of everything.

Each one is a little window into the human condition, asking: What is? What matters? And why?

Like Harold Bloom said, you can 'overhear' yourself while you read, stepping back enough to appreciate the mind and world from afar. Funnily enough, Calvino's 11th definition echoes this idea:

Classics distil the problems of life and existence into stories we can connect to, and even the non-fiction titles follow suit, only more literally.

However, there's a problem.

Reading is not written in our DNA. Unlike learning how to walk or talk, reading must be trained through instruction, and indeed, we spend the first two decades of our life learning how to get good at it. So how do we let the classics work their magic?

That's a question not a thousand emails could answer, so I can only talk about one solution for now:

Let stories flourish in you.

I admit it sounds like you could hang it up in a suburban mum's bathroom, but hear me out.

Reading is a dialogue between you and the author. For a book to speak, you must be willing to listen, and "listening" is more than just reading the words: you must be taken along, surrendering to the story and letting childlike fantasy fill your mind for the moment.

We should approach books with openness and a suspension of disbelief, not because we're 'unserious,' but because we want to invite immersion.

It's a priceless type of naïveté that we left behind as we grew up and started to take everything literally—maybe it's why today's standard-issue books are all blunt self-help titles.

Why bother with a story if you can condense it into a list of practical bullet points? That is the ruthless utilitarianism which kills the very idea of a classic.

I was a victim to this stubbornness, even beyond books.

I used to huff and puff at the thought of musicals: what are they but a string of annoying songs? For twenty years, I didn't bother. I even hated them as a kid.

After influence from my girlfriend and musical-theatre-studying roommate, I cautiously shed my prejudice enough to give them a go.

Les Misérables did the rest of the talking, and now London's West End is a regular tradition for me.

I missed out because I resisted the allure of a story.

To surrender to the tale is how you do philosophy. It is where you find what matters. It is the source of the heroic role models that steer your actions.

Alexander the Great famously kept a copy of the Iliad under his pillow as he campaigned, modelling himself after the fabled Achilles.

Find your Iliad. Find your Achilles.

Let stories flourish.

Yours,

Odysseas

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Links

Article - America's literacy crisis isn't what you think (Anna North, Vox)

A troublesome report on the slow death of reading as a pastime, and the generally poor climate of reading skills that young people suffer through—the so-called "generation trending towards post-literacy."

At the same time, it dispels much of the exaggeration you see in headlines and acts like an important mediating voice in the conversation.

It's also a nice reminder of the the great intellectual fortunes that books have to offer. Some motivation never hurts.

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Podcast - The Tripartite Soul (Classical Stuff You Should Know)

I'm currently taking notes on The Way of Men by Jack Donovan, and in the chapter on courage, he brings up many of its derivatives: the ancient ideals of ἀνδρεία (andreia), virtus, and θῡμός (thumos).

In short, these are animating forces that inspire action despite the risk of consequence, injury, and death.

According to Plato, these virtues would fit into the 'spirited' part of the human soul, which inspires anger, courage, hatred, and ambition.

However, unchecked spirit is a disaster—Plato elaborated that the spirited branch is just one third of the human soul, and a strong character was found in the harmonious balance of all three.

Just check out the link before I spoil everything . . . it's an easy introduction to the concept.

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Video - Back training - building a strong, flexible, resilient spine (The Bioneer)

"You are as young as your spine."

Spinal injury - and injury in general - is often cumulative, and even when it seems acute, it really is just the tipping point—the rep that broke the camel's back.

When we neglect certain areas and let imbalances emerge, pain is a matter of when, not if.

Spinal pain is a right bitch too.

I've suffered from chronic back pain for ages (my fault), and Adam from the Bioneer is a legend for making injury prevention more common in our routines (and for brilliant fitness content in general).

This specific video offers exercises to fortify your back against all the tribulations of life and lifting.

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