The Ancient Philosophy That Makes Anxiety Optional | Maria Semple
Keep a sign on your desk that says 'Dig it, baby.' Before doing any work, ask yourself if you truly love what you're about to create. If you don't dig it, walk away and wait until you do. This simple filter ensures you only produce work you're genuinely excited about, transforming obligation into jo
1h 0mKey Takeaway
Keep a sign on your desk that says 'Dig it, baby.' Before doing any work, ask yourself if you truly love what you're about to create. If you don't dig it, walk away and wait until you do. This simple filter ensures you only produce work you're genuinely excited about, transforming obligation into joy and dramatically improving the quality of your output.
Episode Overview
Author Maria Simple discusses her novel 'Go Gentle' and her deep practice of Stoicism, including her daily morning routine that combines Stoic philosophy with journaling. She explores the tension between Stoic principles of controlling only what's within your power and the messy, chaotic nature of being human—particularly when it comes to desire and love.
Key Insights
The 'Dig It, Baby' Principle for Creative Work
Based on advice from acting teacher Scott Kelman, Simple keeps a sign reading 'Dig it, baby' on her desk. The principle: if you're not loving what you're writing, get up and walk away until you do. This reframes creative work from obligation to joy, ensuring you only produce work you're genuinely excited about. It's about looking people in the eyes, being sincere, wanting to connect, and taking risks—bringing full commitment without any resentful voice in your head.
Reframing as a Creative Act
Simple views cognitive reframing not as a chore but as an imaginative, creative exercise. When something bad happens or a frustrating person appears, she gets excited about the creative challenge: 'What's another way of looking at this?' This approach transforms philosophical practice from duty into play, making it sustainable and even fun. The key is bringing 'useful perspectives' to situations rather than dwelling on unhelpful ones.
The Problem of Remembering
The biggest obstacle in personal growth isn't knowledge—it's remembering to apply what you know. Simple emphasizes that without a daily practice, insights just become things that 'changed your life and then you forgot.' This is why she does stoic journaling every morning: to internalize principles so they become second nature, or at least the eighth reflex rather than the hundredth.
Desire Only What's in Your Control
Simple's daily practice focuses on setting intentions only around things she can control: being on time, not interrupting, not swearing, showing up professionally. She doesn't set goals like 'I want Dan to love me' or 'I want to sell a million books.' This radical shift in desire—only wanting what's within your control—is both liberating and practical, allowing you to achieve 100% success on your own terms every single day.
Stoicism's Limitation: The Denial of Chaos
While Simple practices Stoicism daily, she acknowledges its blind spot: it asks you not to be human. Stoicism doesn't love chaos, lust, giving into appetites, or becoming unhinged—yet those are fundamentally human experiences. Love, especially in early stages, is 'by definition chaotic.' Simple has modified her practice to acknowledge this tension, recognizing that pure Stoic sagehood might mean denying essential parts of being alive.
Notable Quotes
"Dig it, baby. And what it what it does for me is it basically tells me that if I'm not loving what I'm writing, I should just get up and walk away and just wait till I dig it. Like, I'm I'm not going to start right. I'm not going to continue writing unless I fully dig it."
"I really like about it is that it really to me activates my imagination. You know, if something like bad has happened, you know, quote unquote, or you know, I don't get what I want or there's a frustrating person. I actually think it's really fun to just get your imagination like fired up and just think like, oh, what's another way of looking at this again that I'm into my like to-do list energy and I'm then excited."
"I think the biggest problem in all of whatever you want to call it, personal growth, self-improvement, spiritual development, whatever. The biggest problem is remembering."
"I used to always say like like um God my life is I heard something that changed my life and now I've forgotten it. You know, it's like and I think that's what you go through if you don't just go through almost like the drudgery of practice and that's what it's for, right? So you can internalize it."
"My philosophy of life is virtue equals freedom. Virtue is the only good. its pursuit is the only guarantee of abiding good cheer, secure joy and a tranquil mind."
"Stoicism doesn't love chaos you know and and I kind of like chaos you know like you say, 'Oh, I love the low road.' You know, it's like I I mean, you don't really love the road low road, but I mean, it's like kind of asking you not to be human, you know, to want to not want to like lust or just like give into your appetites."
Action Items
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1
Create Your Own Stoic Morning Practice
Start each day by writing down your philosophy of life, then review the four Stoic virtues (wisdom, courage, justice, temperance) with specific adjectives you want to embody. Set intentions only for things within your control. Read Stoic texts (Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius) and journal using the prompt 'I get to do this' to reframe your day's activities from obligations into opportunities.
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2
Apply the 'Dig It, Baby' Test to Your Work
Before starting creative work, ask yourself: Do I fully dig this? Am I excited about what I'm about to create? If not, step away and wait until you do. This ensures you only produce work you're genuinely passionate about, dramatically improving quality and making the process joyful rather than dutiful.
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3
Practice Cognitive Reframing as Creative Play
When something frustrating happens, treat reframing as a fun creative challenge rather than a chore. Ask: 'What's the most useful perspective I can bring to this situation?' Let your imagination explore different angles. The goal isn't toxic positivity but finding a genuinely helpful way to view the situation that serves you.
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4
Set Daily Intentions Only for What You Control
When planning your day, eliminate goals tied to outcomes you can't control (like 'I want to impress this person' or 'I want this to go viral'). Instead, focus only on your actions and character: being on time, not interrupting, showing up professionally, bringing your full self. This allows you to succeed 100% on your own terms every day.