The Modern Stoic #19: Are You Running Away Or Going Walkabout? - a podcast by Jon & Dre

from 2018-03-05T18:14:29

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Does travel broaden the mind, or are you simply running away from your problems? Can self-discovery happen on the road, or is it always a case of 'wherever you go, there you are'?

This episode draws on Letter 28 ('On travel as a cure for discontent'), in which Seneca takes Lucilius to task for jumping around from place to place, trying to find solace and centredness. According to Seneca, he needs a 'change of soul, rather than a change of climate'.

But we're not so sure. Putting yourself in new situations not only reveals different parts of you to yourself, but it also helps us to escape the habits and people who confine us.

The real question here is what's going on in your head. Are you running away, or are you going Walkabout – the more spiritual journey in which you head out in search of what truly matters to you.

Still, what about the other side of the coin – If you're always looking for yourself, you're only ever going to find someone who's looking for themselves! Jon's met a lot of Retreat Junkies, who never take what they learn from their explorations and actually apply it to their lives. If you just keep asking questions but never listening to the answers, what's the point of it all?

All of this can be hard work, but does that make it worthwhile? Have we got too accustomed in our culture to thinking that everything has to be hard to be worthwhile?

We also share some personal tales of travel and self-discovery, and feel rather perplexed that, despite everything we've heard, it turns out no one actually understands what gravity is. Seriously.

Also Including:

  • Getting fossilised in the place you live
  • Going Walkabout in the modern world
  • Retreat junkies and how not to become one
  • What's more important – why, what, or how you're doing something?
  • Lies we tell to children

Find Out More:

Be Silly. Be Kind. Be Weird.

Further episodes of Voices in the Dark

Further podcasts by Jon & Dre

Website of Jon & Dre