All Work And No Play Sucks…

Circadian rhythms, hormones, gut health, sunlight, and so on. These are the vocabulary of our modern men when they speak about health. And they are definitely on to something. All of the psychologists, neuroscientists, and modern-day internet gurus are saying in different words what Chrysippus and other ancient Greek philosophers thought about virtue, and about health. For Chrysippus, to be virtuous was to be attuned to the course of nature.

 Because nature is the foundation of virtue, placing ourselves firmly within the tides of its patterns is building a house on stone. On the other hand, living un-naturally, like being awake during strange hours, overindulging, and being shielded from the sun and other elements is building a house on sand. Despite its abstract reputation, philosophy has a close affinity with the body; it is not just mental effort in an armchair of a tower, removed from the tides of life. Especially when we consider Greek philosophy, we must think in terms of health. Virtue is tied to health—and health is no more than an informed and reflective way of living. (This is not to advocate a monastic life, but to be sure you make the correct number of building decisions to balance out your pleasure decisions).

 In modernity, we have forgotten this. For instance, think of professional martial arts fighters. They have forgotten that martial arts are also a training and softening of one’s spirit, not only the hardening of their body. Likewise, we have forgotten that virtue is a lived way of life, not an abstract consideration apart from life. Therefore, should we be surprised to see Chrysippus situating virtue within nature? We put an immense amount of time and energy trying to cope with our bodies not being attuned to nature’s flow. Loads of caffeine, supplements, and drugs are crowded into our bodies every day to make it through.

For the ancient Greek, this would not be living virtuously, but trying to make up for the damage living unnaturally takes on ourselves. To be virtuous, of course, also means to be able to think rationally in addition to cultivating a healthy body. And we cannot think rationally if we are not well-rested, well-fed, and exposed to fresh air regularly.

 There is an insidious myth that many men believe whole-heartedly: that all of life is about working hard and working a lot. But this attitude has taken our daily lives so far away from a life of virtue and a life of nature. Labor is obviously important for many reasons (first and foremost to sustain ourselves). But laboring beyond what is natural, like into the late night and through meal-times, is destroying your soul and body for the sake of a story we tell about the world. Re-wild. Work so you can live, do not live so you can work.