Everything Happens for a Reason?

Or not?

After my Sunday letter, I’m happy to tell you that things are looking up.

• I trained twice

• I slept well

• I’ve got back into the swing of good habits

• I’ve been productive

Hopefully, I’ll be able to share more good news with you on Sunday in the next update. Sometimes you just need a little accountability to to find your way back.

In my last letter, I told you to trust the signs. 

“Believe that this thread of events is trying to send you a message”.

And that’s our topic today.
Why do the things that happen in life “happen”?
Pure chance or a hidden cosmic reason?

• It may be pure chance

• Everything could be calculated like a clockwork

• It could be something in between

Do I have a definitive answer to this question? No. I don’t (yet) have access to the secrets of the universe.

But synchronicity or illustration of this phenomenon. It was shortly after Sunday’s lines that a philosopher spoke to me about the stoic concept of Sympatheia.

I don’t know much about Stoic philosophy. I know the broad outlines. The messages repeated by the statue-headed profiles to be found in the 4 corners of the internet. Or quotes from Marcus Aurelius repeated thousands of times.

I’m far from being an expert on the cosmic, almost religious, aspect of Stoic philosophy. Listening to this philosopher speak passionately about it was a discovery. Interesting enough that I decided to share it with you.

Before we go on: 

• Again, I’m no expert on stoic philosophy

• I’m going to transcribe a few notes from the exchange

• My opinion at the end

The discussion began with “Do things happen by accident?” 

That’s when this philosopher introduced me to the Stoic concept of sympatheia. According to the Stoics, the whole universe is interconnected and interdependent. A “breath” is at the origin of all life. Since this breath of life comes from the same source, we’re all connected. We’re driven by the same life energy.

There’s a kind of harmony between everything on Earth and the cosmos. 

As everything is interconnected, each action is not the result of chance, but the outcome of a causal chain of events from each of the elements.

Thus, “nothing would happen without reason”. Everything is separate but united. Everything is linked, even if we are separated.

As Seneca says: 

“We are the waves of the same sea, the leaves of the same tree, the flowers of the same garden”.

Marcus Aurelius adds:

“All things are interwoven with one another; a sacred bond unites them; there is scarcely one thing that is isolated from another. Everything is coordinated, everything works together in giving form to the one universe.”

Seneca ends the demonstration with

“The human race is one; and the fact that we are all born alike, and are destined to die alike, makes us kin to one another, and brings us all down to the same level of helplessness.”

Even if our fates are different. The beginning and the end are always the same. 

The implications of these quotes are numerous. If I tried to list them all, it would take a 20-minute read that would knock out most of you. So I’ll run through a few highlights.

• Stoic philosophy was one of the first tolerant philosophies. If we are all the same, then we are all equal.

• It urges us to do good. To do good for others is to do good for oneself since we are part of this unity.

• We have a lot of power. Since we have the power to do good or evil. We have the power to change the balance of the world.

• We must be careful with our decisions. Our decisions have an impact on the world. If we impact the world negatively, we impact ourselves.

• We also have to try not to suffer. Because if you suffer. The world suffers.

By analogy, when the world suffers, we suffer. Our natural empathy may well support this theory. For some months now, even though we live far from the conflicts. 

Many of us are finding it hard to get on with our lives. Paralyzed by the ambient suffering of this world being torn apart. All we have to do is turn on the news and our whole day is ruined. When our human brothers and sisters suffer, we suffer.

What do I think about it? 
Like a fruit, my opinion needs to mature, and it’s still only at the seedling stage.

I do believe that the world is one big interconnected machine. That powerful determinism that we don’t even suspect governs us. That we need each other. 

For our society to survive and reproduce. We’re born with certain traits, and the total of these traits enables a society to function as a group of thinkers, organizers, builders…

I also like this vision of equality. That’s one reason why I never tackle the issues that divide us. I prefer to write about what brings us together. The world is already trying to divide us enough for me to add my layer.

What I take from the concept of sympatheia is simple.
We have to do our best. 
Doing our best is the best way to build the best of all worlds.

We have a great responsibility for ourselves and others.

• If we improve, we improve the world. 

• If we regress. The world regresses.

We are the guardians of these breaths of life.

It’s a concept that places a great responsibility on our shoulders. Part of the world around us is a reflection of what we send out. It’s in our power to make the world a better place.

It’s been a long time since I sent an entirely philosophical letter. I used to do it quite often in the beginning. The problem with these letters is that one part of the audience loves them and another hates them. Too theoretical.

But today, I had to trust inspiration. Maybe it was the very concept of Sympatheia that drove me to do it. I needed to write these words and maybe someone needed to read them.