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In this episode of Modern Meditations, we explore Chapter 7 of Epictetus’ Enchiridion, one of the most vivid and debated analogies in Stoicism.

Using the image of a ship, a captain, and a shoreline full of distractions, Epictetus gives a framework for how to live while knowing everything can be taken from you at any moment. But what exactly is the “ship”? Is it death? Fate? Something else entirely?

Justin and I break down competing interpretations, push the analogy to its limits, and wrestle with what it actually means to “be ready” when you’re called back. Along the way, we get into truffles, attachments, whether this idea is anti-stoic at its extreme, and what it looks like to live fully without wandering too far from what matters.

This episode is about attention, detachment, and learning when to hold on and when to walk away without looking back.

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In this New Year’s special, we revisit On the Shortness of Life and come to a deeply encouraging conclusion:

You’re not out of time, you’re just wasting it.

We break down Seneca’s idea of the Preoccupied vs. the Thrifty Guardian, aka:

• the person who’s always waiting for something better
• vs. the person who actually lives their life

Justin shares the moment that left him crying in his car before work (don’t worry, he pulled it together and did great things), triggered by a song and the realization that:
every relationship slowly fades… and sometimes you’re the one who left.

We also introduce a powerful new life framework:
The Home Depot Philosophy™

Along the way, we cover:

• why you lose the day waiting for the night, and the night fearing the morning
• why reading books is apparently controversial now
• why Target might be a scam (and why we’re rooting for Walmart)
• and why your Instagram posts might just be… too poetic for the masses

We decode this (because Bruce's Instagram followers couldn't):
fewer causes, more faces
forget labels, remember names

We wrap with the 2025 Aurelius Awards, where we highlight the highest ROI moments of the year.

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A horse can be proud of its own beauty. But if you’re proud of owning a beautiful horse, you’ve already confused what’s yours with what isn’t.

In this episode, we break down Enchiridion 6 and the Stoic warning against borrowed pride, deriving self-worth from status, outcomes, or association. What is actually yours is far narrower. Your judgment, your choices, your discipline, your restraint.

We bring in Gladiator as a case study. Maximus embodies owned excellence, character that survives the loss of everything external. Commodus represents borrowed identity, collapsing when applause fades.