LXXXVI. How to Avoid Breaking Down When Life Gets Brutal

Life is warfare and a journey far from home.

Almond Blossoms by Vincent Van Gogh. He painted this for his nephew just before one of his brutal migraine attacks. In a letter to his brother Theo, he says, “My work was going well…the last canvas of branches in blossom - you will see that it is perhaps the best, the most patiently worked thing I had done, painted with calm and with greater firmness of touch. And the next day, down like a brute.”

Life, as Marcus Aurelius wrote, is warfare and a journey far from home.

You will face deadlines that press against your throat you’ll feel like choking and crying, conversations that feel like walking on broken glass, nagging and rude people to tolerate, people you must release even when it tears at you, and loneliness to endure. You’ll face truths too hard to digest you’ll need a laxative, and you will stare into the hollow eyes of an empty bank account, wondering how you will survive. You’ll have demons to feed and reign, your craft to sharpen to excellence against the fire of discipline and…