Topic
Self-Reflection
11 articles
Rumination vs Reflection: Seneca Replayed His Whole Day
Both look inward. One builds something and one eats you alive. The difference isn't how much you think about it — it's whether you're asking a question you can answer.
July 27, 2026
12 Questions to Ask Yourself That Won't Turn Into Rumination
You saved the 100-question list and never opened it again. The problem wasn't you — most questions aren't built to be answered. Twelve are.
July 3, 2026
Why Reacting Badly Doesn't Make You the Abuser: The DARVO Test
You reacted to being provoked, and now you're being told that makes you the abuser. Here is the actual test — and why a single reaction rarely passes it.
July 1, 2026
I Feel Like I'm Wasting My Life — Why That's a Story, Not a Fact
You're not reporting a fact about your life — you're passing a verdict on all of it. And the audit your mind runs to reach that verdict is rigged.
June 1, 2026
What Journaling Actually Does to You — and When It Backfires
Journaling benefits are real — but the listicles skip the mechanism. Why naming a feeling shrinks it, and the one mode that quietly makes things worse.
May 27, 2026
What the Examined Life Actually Means — Socrates' Argument
The Socrates quote comes from his own trial. He chose death over stopping. Here is what he actually meant by the examined life — and what it requires.
May 15, 2026
Self-Awareness and Reflection: Why One Without the Other Fails
Reflection and self-awareness aren't the same practice. One without the other produces insight but no change.
May 14, 2026
The Stoic Journal: Why Seneca Held a Trial, Not a Diary
The modern self-reflection practice is missing its most important part. The Stoics didn't keep a diary — they held a daily trial.
May 13, 2026
Who Are You Without the Role? Stoicism on Sense of Self
Sense of self collapses when roles disappear. The Stoics had a precise answer to what remains — and it changes what the collapse means.
May 13, 2026
Self-Reflection Isn't a Feeling — It's a Practice with a Method
Most people ruminate rather than reflect. The Stoics built a specific daily practice for self-examination — here's what it involves and how to start tonight.
May 10, 2026
Why the Unexamined Life Is So Easy to Live — Socrates Was Right
Socrates said the unexamined life is not worth living at his own trial — choosing death over stopping. Here is what he actually meant, and why non-examination is the default.
May 8, 2026