Work-life balance in Stoicism (Edinburgh)

Name: Work-life balance in Stoicism (Edinburgh)
Start: 2025-09-09T19:00:00+01:00
Location: Athletic Arms

Schedule

Tue, 09 Sep, 2025 at 07:00 pm

UTC+01:00

Location

Athletic Arms | Edinburgh, SC

Join us for the first Stoic meeting of the season organised by the Edinburgh community, Stoa Akrokorifi! We will meet on the 9th of September (Tuesday) at 7 pm at the Athletic Arms (aka the Diggers) in the snug. If you've never attended our meetings before, now's the perfect time to give them a go!
This time we will be discussing the topic work-life balance. What were the Stoics’ view on being efficient while also not becoming too overwhelmed with needless tasks?
The recommended reading for this meeting are the following letters by Seneca:
1) Letter 1: "On Saving Time"
2) Letter 22: "On the Futility of Half-Way Measures"
3) Letter 28: "On Travel as a Cure for Discontent"
All letters are freely available online (e.g. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius)
Whether you’re a Stoic veteran or a complete beginner (or anywhere in between!), you are welcome to join us - we’re a friendly bunch and the more, the merrier! And as always, you can bring along a friend or partner.
=What happens at Stoic meetings?=
Our monthly Edinburgh meetings are always centred around a specific topic, like love, justice, wisdom etc. You don’t have to prepare in advance to attend, although you are encouraged to read a bit on the topic beforehand, especially the recommended reading, so that you can enjoy the philosophical discussions even more!
On the day there will be a list of quotes from the Stoic literature and everybody will get a chance to pick one quote that resonates with them the most - this is then followed by a discussion as we take turns discussing our chosen quotes in the context of Stoicism. This is all done in a friendly, relaxed, non-judgemental atmosphere, and we are always happy to see new faces!
We also have a growing Stoic Library with numerous books by Stoic philosophers or modern scholars (books range from relaxed introductions to Stoicism to more advanced deeper dives into specific aspect of Stoic theory, practice and history). You are welcome to borrow a book from the library and return it at the meeting next month.