The Bobby Rock Newsletter #53 (4-9-2022) - A New Take on Some Old Wisdom
The Bobby Rock Newsletter #53 (4-9-2022) - A New Take on Some Old Wisdom
Hey All -
Thanks for clicking in. Been already enjoying some real summer weather here in LA, digging on those mid-afternoon runs. These are great for on-stage endurance which, it looks like will be coming in handy in the months ahead. Hope you all are well.
I have a few (hopefully) cool things for you guys this week, so let’s jump!
- A new take on some old wisdom… let’s go deep for a second!
- Classic Read: The staggering brilliance of Man’s Search for Meaning
- Lita Ford hit next weekend: Throwin’ that shit down with Winger
I wish I could say every Lita Ford show had this kind of production, but...
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A New Take on Some Old Wisdom
Been enjoying a bit of a deep dive back into some old-school philosophy these past couple weeks, mainly Stoicism, complements of Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius (with a nod to Ryan Holiday and Brian Johnson for their beautiful encapsulations). To those unfamiliar with the basic vibe of Stoicism, I would say, consider the classic Serenity Prayer, which, of course, goes like this:
….grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Those of us who have spent time in recovery (especially of the 12-step variety) will know this well, and God knows I've recited this bitch hundreds of times as a kid, as I diligently attended meetings at the Palmer Drug Abuse Program in Houston. And yet… cut to more than four decades later, and I suddenly stumbled into a profound distinction in interpretation this week while out for a run (where some of my better contemplations seem to happen).
Through the years, I guess I have presumed that all dilemmas are either something we'll need serenity to accept OR something we’ll need courage to change… but not both. But now, I wonder how many of those “acceptance” situations can actually merge with the “courage to change” concept, specifically when it comes to changing how we choose to interpret the event.
Here’s my thinking:
First, pair the above Serenity Prayer with this gem:
"Man is troubled not by events, but by the meaning he gives them."
Epictetus
So, when we ask for the "serenity to accept the things we cannot change," which we are presumably troubled by, all good: there is wisdom in the acceptance of things out of our control, in what the Stoics call "the Art of Acquiescence.” Cool.
At the same time, however, the “courage to change the things we can” also comes into play here, because we can simultaneously choose to change how we will perceive the troubling event moving forward. We have the power to assign a more constructive and empowering meaning to it than we likely have been. So why wouldn’t we?
Here’s an example concerning the age-old scenario of regret:
We have to accept certain unfortunate decisions or events of our past...
But, we can also summon the courage to change how we choose to view the “unfortunate” event.
We could view it as an indispensable part of our learning, or an ordained opportunity where we met someone we otherwise would not have met, or a key twist in our own personal “Heroes Journey,” which affected our trajectory in a critical way that we might not have realized before, etc.
The point is, if the meaning of life is ultimately revealed to us via the meaning we choose to assign to our various experiences and outcomes, then why not make some intentional choices here, as opposed to the usual, default, “victimhood” vibe?
In this way, we are accepting the aspect of a situation we cannot change, but then supercharging it for our own benefit in the ways we can. And if we can successfully do this, we can not only become bulletproof in our tranquility, but then every “bad" thing that happens outside of our control becomes yet another opportunity to evolve.
Reminds me of this kick-ass quote:
"The demon you can swallow gives you its power.”
Joseph Campbell
That’s pretty fucking heavy. But so true.
Again, it’s funny to me that I might finally connect the dots on this thing via philosophy written many centuries before theologian Reinhold Niebuhr composed the Serenity Prayer some ninety years ago. But for me, it speaks to the universal nature of wisdom and the importance of submerging our minds in the myriad examples of it: we keep connecting dots between all traditions.
This is cool…
...so as long as we actually use the shit… lest we become, as author Donald Robertson writes, “Librarians of the Mind,”—cataloging knowledge in safe, theoretical environments—as opposed to what Epictetus and co. advocated for: “Warriors of the Mind”—out there in the trenches as living exemplars of this wisdom.
Which leads us to...
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Man’s Search For Meaning
Truly, an epic read!
If you’re interested in one of the more profound examples of how this idea can be utilized in a most extreme and inspiring way, look no further than (Holocaust survivor) Viktor Frankl’s classic, Man’s Search for Meaning (if you haven’t already) and drink in some real mastery on the subject. There’s probably no greater example of Stoicism in action at the highest level—and, specifically, this Acceptance/Reframing piece—than how Frankl handled his business both in the midst of a most horrific situation, but also in the aftermath. He was a true “Warrior of the Mind” if ever there was one.
One of my favorite take-aways from Frankl's whole trip is this:
I think many of us are prone to thinking we are bullshitting ourselves with this “reframing” of reality—in terms of assigning a different meaning to an event or circumstance—especially if we are convinced that it is “all bad.” But if ever there was a situation where one might think they were bullshitting themselves, it would be in finding any kind of silver lining in a scenario where you had to reconcile the murder of family and friends at the hands of madmen. But no. As a pervasive theme in this book (and in his remarkable teachings), Frankl shows us that we really do have the power to assign meaning to anything.
In fact, I like how he puts it here:
"The meaning of our existence is not invented by ourselves, but rather detected.”
Viktor Frankl
Heavy-duty!
Anyway, scope this one out. New perspectives await...
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Lita Ford Live
And now, to shift gears a bit and wrap things up this week, I look forward to seeing some of our Minnesota friends next weekend with Lita Ford:
April 15 - Virginia, MN - Iron Trail Motors Event Center
(+ Winger)
Always a blast playing with Winger. Here’s a pic after soundcheck from one of our last shows together. My righty kit to the left; the bad-ass Rod Morgenstein’s lefty kit to the right. Still trips me out to see left-handed kits!
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