Introduction

With most of the programs you'll find in the app, I take the liberty - even if it's a little counterintuitive - to deviate a little from the theme of the program in order to provide some context before I get to the topic you're looking for here: how can you free yourself from thoughts that take you back to the past? This is a little refresher on the main goal of the app: to introduce you to ancient philosophical thinking.

What is the point of initiation, you may ask.
To respond to issues such as no longer regretting the past, and more generally to "heal the wounds of the soul".

That last expression – heal the wounds of the soul – that appears throughout the texts I don't like, because it seems to come straight from the mouth of a boring old uncle who has spent too much time sitting in his old velvet armchair philosophizing vaguely to himself ¹; but it's true and perfectly describes the condition of those who could benefit from philosophy: to heal the wounds of the soul, or better still, to protect themselves from the wounds of the soul.

To paraphrase Pierre Hadot's synthesis ²: Philosophy helps to overcome the "partial and biased point of view", which he contrasts with the impartial and universal point of view.

I like this way of describing philosophy.
When we describe our view as biased and prejudiced, that is, incomplete, we realize that we need to correct it. And that's what philosophy has been about since Socrates: recognizing the limits of our knowledge in order to compensate for our ignorance and thus live better.

But achieving this kind of philosophical awareness is not easy.
It requires commitment, effort and regularity.

This often takes the form of self-therapy rather than visiting a philosophical café or consulting a philosophical counselor. And that is what you'll do in this program. If you want to get rid of the demons of the past, you'll find texts in this course that I've compiled through my reading and research. Stoic texts of course, by Marcus Aurelius, Seneca or Epictetus, but perhaps also other references, ancient or more modern, or even writings that draw their content from psychology.

I think this word therapy will help you look at your past a little differently. I hope it does.
Again and again, a word that crystallizes a whole thought:

acceptance.

The rest of what you'll read in this program is just window dressing.

You might be wondering why you're even following this program if it's all contained in the word "acceptance"? Because I also told you everything in the phrase "word therapy". From **reading**, from this knowledge, comes healing; and from this pursuit of knowledge derives one of the therapies that is now recognized as one of the most effective: CBT: Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies.

Let's get started?
Let's go.