Premeditatio Malorum

#FirstCoffeeThoughts

I’ve written in the past about the world I grew up in and the violence and madness I was surrounded by.

I didn’t survive that huddled in a corner wishing upon stars for something to change. I found strength from moment to moment, day by day, year to year by grounding myself in what could be realistically endured, for how long, and under what circumstances.

I thought often about the worst possible beating and how I would endure it long before I discovered stoicism.

When I finally understood the words of Seneca and Epictetus, it brought me a lot of comfort to know that I was doing something that people had been doing for thousands of years to gain resilience and to prepare their minds and bodies.

Depressive realism and negative visualizations are all aspects of one stoic understanding called Premeditatio Malorum.

Premeditatio Malorum is how well regulated people move through a world based on realism and not on delusion.

For many, the idea of reality is terrifying and even repugnant. The concept of envisioning a truth outside of what they desperately want to choose to believe can have devastating results on those not strong enough to experience it.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘻𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦.

𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘺—𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘹 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵.

Stoics don’t see the act of negative visualization as pessimistic, but as a necessary act for grounding oneself in reality. There is no pessimism or optimism in realism.