About this blog and its' purpose

“Road to Stoa” is a blog on the personal journey through Stoicism that captures my learnings and opinions on the various concepts and theories of this incredible philosophy. My journey into Stoicism started through probably the most common multimedia channel that so many modern day influencers and gurus use to make their bread & butter – the Instagram. What started off as a few cool posts with interesting quotes on this Instagram page: “Daily Stoic” (look up DailyStoic) later turned into a journey I’ve embarked on that had a positive impact on my life. These few interesting quotes peaked enough of my interest to dive further into Stoicism and purchase books (at first by the founder of “Daily Stoic” – Ryan Holiday and then on from there Marcus Aurelius “Meditations” and Epictetus “Discourses”) on this topic. I found the concepts of this philosophy to not only be useful but also fulfilling at a more deeper level that bring me a sense of comfort and serenity.  

Like all of us,I am a person who attempts to do (and be) the best that I can for myself, my family and friends, live a decent and productive life and try and be happy. I’ve made mistakes, experienced the loss of loved ones (due to death or due to my at times fiery personality), questioned the meaning of life and had many other challenges that we all experience in life. Every encounter with daily stress, loss of loved ones (or our own mortality), personal failures and mistakes it makes it so hard to find and stay locked in that elusive happiness. However, worst of all, this at times impairs our abilities to be the best when it counts the most – to be a parent, partner, sibling or child, friend or colleague. This constant internal battle that we must try and win is what lead me down the path of Stoicism. While by no means am I a perfect son, friend, family member or colleague (nor will I ever be), what I can try and do is to make one less mistake, be more kind, compassionate and  present for one more extra moment in the lives of those around me while being at peace and comfort in my mind and soul.  

This is where the Stoic philosophy, concepts and practice helps. My path on learning this philosophy becomes one more tool in the toolkit to help me to try and improve. I do not wish to label myself as a Stoic due to my own shortcomings for many reasons. Instead, I hope this blog and the concepts captured in it will help people in one way or another, even if it’s just to hear more about Stoicism and begin your own individual journeys.