You Have This Freedom (If You Take It)

Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, designed to help bring those four key Stoic virtues, courage, discipline, justice, and wisdom into the real world. You have this freedom if you take it. It's something simple to take for granted. It's free, it's easy, anyone can do it, except not anyone. The Emperor of Rome couldn't exactly just take a stroll through the city.

There were safety concerns, after all. He could not enjoy an anonymous walk along the river or through the streets, he could not bump into friends or explore. It wasn't just unsafe, it wasn't feasible. He did not have control of his schedule or his time, pressed as he was with business and obligations, and so in this way the most powerful man in the world lacked a freedom that we so readily take for granted. Indeed, the closest Marcus Aurelius could have come was perhaps the emperor's shortcut,

a hidden three hundred yard passageway of zigzagging ramps that carried the emperor from the palace on the Palantine down to the forum, safely separated from the streets of Rome, or the Palantine stadium a a private walking track, used only by the emperor. We, on the other hand, have this freedom, and what do we do with it? We sit on our phones, We sit at our desks, we drive even short distances, and in the process we deprive ourselves of a bit of nature, a bit of exercise, a better sense of our neighborhood, and one of the most basic forms of movement available. And that's crazy.

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