Today’s Daily Stoic writing prompt:  What wisdom will you create today?

Perhaps this:  The creation of wisdom is incremental most of the time, although its expression in words or thoughts is often the product of a “eureka” moment.  You do not suddenly wake up one day with great wisdom–it takes effort and thought, unlike knowledge, which can be often gathered in massive bursts of activity.  Wisdom builds on that acquisition of knowledge, seeks to analyse it and then understand it, and then to apply it to higher things.  And there is always some manner of judgement in wisdom, which can itself be informed by knowledge. 

As such, someone like me is always in the process of creating wisdom–because I am driven not just to learn, but to understand, to find context and meaning, and to never be satisfied with the state of my inner life.  I am by nature restless, consumed by curiosity, always eager to find the missing puzzle pieces (or to guess what might be missing) so I can better understand what I read, see, and hear.  

Ancona imparo: “I am still learning,” is a quote usually attributed to Michelangelo, but it turns out (which I just learned today) it is actually a phrase found in the elderly Seneca’s 76th letter to Lucilius, published in his final year of life.  (Yes, that same Seneca who was a noted Stoic.)  And what a joy to know what a nearly infinite world of knowledge and inquiry remains out there to be discovered!  

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More proofreading today.  Also, my work delivered a box of cookies (homebaked varieties) earlier this evening as a holiday treat, which I’m currently resisting.  Second last day of work before the break.  Not a great night’s sleep, and I’ve been busy most of the day, so I’m going to get this posted and go do something that doesn’t require coherent thought.

So here is some Russian liturgical chant with oktavists.  I have to get some of this in my car at some point so I can feel those low notes vibrate the entirety of my existence.