Eudaemonia

Canadian artist and graphic designer David Voshart created photoreal portraits of Roman Emperors. This is what emperor/philosopher Marcus Aurelius (r. 161-180 CE) may have looked like.

Marcus Aurelius wasn’t just a Roman emperor. He was a philosopher.

And Meditations is a collection of his personal writings that includes his reflections on Stoicism, a philosophy of ethics that teaches the path to happiness requires accepting each moment as it presents itself.

The good, the bad, and the ugly. 

Marcus Aurelius wrote Meditations in Greek, and the word we translate as “happiness” is eudaemonia. Some scholars suggest that translating eudaemonia as happiness is imprecise. Sloppy. English is imperfect. 

Those scholars say a more accurate translation of eudaemonia might be “human flourishing, prosperity, and blessedness.”

Accepting each moment as it presents itself, calmly and soberly, is hard. Eudaemonia is elusive. But it’s worth pursuing.

When our minds are calm, we react better to adversity and conflict. We control our tempers. Our words and behaviors are more consistent with our values and principles. We don’t get caught up in the thick of thin things.

Most religions and philosophies teach that calm minds make it easier for good things to happen. 

Enlightenment. Nirvana. Equanimity.  Shalom.  

Human flourishing, prosperity, and blessedness. 

Eudaemonia.

A few of us are natural Stoics, wired to find eudaemonia more easily.

The rest of us have work to do.