Leisa Michelle

Nerdy Monologues of an Autodidact

Who I Am in the Words of Others

by Leave a Comment

This post is a part of my Personal Development Project for May 2016.

Thomas Aquinas famously said, “The things that we love tell us what we are.”

Below is a collection of 5 of my favorite quotes and sayings. Or rather, here is who I am in the words of others.

Thus those are not termed 'contemplatives' who merely contemplate, but they who devote their lives to contemplation.

-- St. Thomas Aquinas

This quote comes from Thomas Aquinas’s On Prayer and the Contemplative Life, one of my favorite books.

The reason this saying resonates with me so much is because it deals with one’s essence or one’s being. Here there is a distinction between raw action and consuming action.

Often times I get a bit frustrated when I hear people say, “I just love psychology. It’s so fascinating!” And when I press further about what they’ve read or what they know or what exactly they find interesting, the person turns out to not know a thing about psychology. So it’s clear to me that they don’t love psychology itself, but the idea of psychology.

Keep reading…

No one’s laughing at God in a famine, fire, or flood

by Leave a Comment

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God
When they’re starving or freezing or so very poor

No one laughs at God
When the doctor calls after some routine tests
No one’s laughing at God
When it’s gotten real late
And their kid’s not back from the party yet
Keep reading…

Now Look for Someone to Love

by Leave a Comment

You have buried someone you loved. Now look for someone to love. It is better to make good the loss of a friend than to cry over him.

-Letters from a Stoic, Seneca

Who was Seneca?

Seneca was a philosopher, statesman, and orator who was born in 4 BCE and died in 65 CE. He was an advisor to Emperor Nero, until accused of being a part of an assassination attempt on Nero’s life, and thus was ordered to commit suicide. During the course of his life, Seneca wrote several treatises and tragedies and hundreds of letters. He made a lot of important contributions to Stoicism, a school of philosophy that is usually described as a way of life. The Stoics were concerned mostly with actively and intentionally living virtuous lives. Philosophy wasn’t purely a collection of thoughts and theories, or even a mindset. For the Stoics, philosophy was actionable and applicable to everyday life; it was a lifestyle.

Now look for someone to love…

When we lose a friend — maybe due to the passing of time, the misalignment of values, or even a sudden visit from Death himself — it creates a void in our life. We don’t just have to come to terms with not being able to connect with our lost friend, we have to find a new thing to love in his place. We have to find someone or something worthy to replace him. Because we have not lost just a friend, but the object of our affections.

Keep reading…

Ignoring the Interest of Kings

by Leave a Comment

The danger in associating with kings arises from the fact that when kings enter upon the scene, and the spell of their influence gains strength, becoming like a great lamp, the person who keeps company with them, claims their friendship, and accepts money from them will inevitably speak in accordance with their desires. That person will listen to the kings’ mundane views with the utmost attention, and will not be able to deny them.

That is where the danger lies, it leads to a fading respect for the true source. When you cultivate the interest of kings, that other interest which is fundamental to the spiritual life becomes a stranger to you. The more you proceed down the path of kings, the more that direction where the Beloved dwells becomes lost.

Excerpt from Fihi Ma Fihi, The Discourses of Rumi

Keep reading…