Premature Wisdom

Premature WisdomOne of my favorite books is The Art of Living, which is a modern translation of the Greek stoic philosopher Epictetus’ Enchiridion and Discourses. It’s a set of practical guidelines for living a fruitful life devoid of fear and misinterpretations of events in our lives over which we have no control of.

I am revisiting this book while concurrently reading Roman emperor/philosopher Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations. I find stoicism appealing in many ways, but Roman stoicism attracts me even more. I particularly enjoy the practical application of this subset over more esoteric and theoretical schools of philosophy.

The illustration above is based on the following The Art of Living quote:

‘Behold the world fresh – as it is, on its own terms – through the eyes of a beginner. To know that you do not know and to be willing to admit that you do not know without sheepishly apologizing is real strength and sets the stage for learning and progress in any endeavor.’

Owls are generally associated with wisdom, so I thought that a baby owl could represent the manifestation of premature wisdom. Geometric shapes usually represent order and structure. I unified these two concepts to catalog a visual path towards personal growth via mental/spiritual/emotional regiments.