Wiser by Day
Close the Day · Lesson 1 of 6 · Free
A quiet place to put the day down
End the day on purpose: look back kindly, set down what you carried, and let the evening begin.
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Read the recording transcriptThe lesson
Welcome. Most evenings the day comes to bed with us, still replaying. Over six short sessions, we'll practise closing it on purpose. Tonight, we start by finding somewhere quiet to put it down.
For nowhere either with more quiet or more freedom from trouble does a man retire than into his own soul, particularly when he has within him such thoughts that by looking into them he is immediately in perfect tranquilityMarcus Aurelius · Meditations, 4.3
George Long, 1862
Marcus was an emperor with no quiet room to retire to, so he built one in his own attention. That's the idea here. You don't need a perfect hour or a perfect bedroom. You need a few minutes when you stop answering the day and let your attention come home. Tonight we won't review anything. We'll only practise stepping back from the day, the way you'd step out of a noisy room into the hall.
Try it for yourself
A short reflection
Sit or lie comfortably, and let your eyes close or rest low. Notice that the day is behind you now. Let your breathing slow without forcing it. As thoughts of the day arrive, don't answer them. Just say to yourself: later. Then come back to the feeling of breathing. If it helps, imagine a door closing softly on a busy room. Take two and a half minutes.
One question to write about
In a sentence: what was the loudest part of today?
You can reflect without writing. Nothing you think or write on this page is collected.
Recording transcript
This text follows the recorded narration. Source credits for the quoted passage appear above.
Welcome. Most evenings the day comes to bed with us, still replaying. Over six short sessions, we'll practise closing it on purpose. Tonight, we start by finding somewhere quiet to put it down. From Marcus Aurelius's private notebook, the Meditations, in George Long's translation. For nowhere either with more quiet or more freedom from trouble does a man retire than into his own soul, particularly when he has within him such thoughts that by looking into them he is immediately in perfect tranquility Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 4.3. Marcus was an emperor with no quiet room to retire to, so he built one in his own attention. That's the idea here. You don't need a perfect hour or a perfect bedroom. You need a few minutes when you stop answering the day and let your attention come home. Tonight we won't review anything. We'll only practise stepping back from the day, the way you'd step out of a noisy room into the hall. Sit or lie comfortably, and let your eyes close or rest low. Notice that the day is behind you now. Let your breathing slow without forcing it. As thoughts of the day arrive, don't answer them. Just say to yourself: later. Then come back to the feeling of breathing. If it helps, imagine a door closing softly on a busy room. Take two and a half minutes. In a sentence: what was the loudest part of today? That's enough for tonight. Tomorrow, we look back over the day, kindly.