What a Pigeon and Aristotle Have in Common

Something lots of people seem to have forgotten…as they run around with homework and planning for the future.

 

Aristotle’s key ideas can be summarized to;

Pleasure is good.

Pain is bad.

Seek pleasure.

Avoid pain.

And that’s all you need to do to lead a good, and moral life. Of course this gets a little more complicated when you factor in other people, as you have to allow for causing them pain or joy. But the principle remains the same even after all these years, in modern life its more about compromise than the two extremes but Aristotle’s theories can’t be denied.

Walking across the park the other day, thinking of all the things on my list of stuff to do, we saw a pigeon snuggled up on the grass, in the sun. Doing nothing. I think we’ve forgotten how to do that, if you see someone staring into space you wave your hand in front of their face. And teachers will yell at you for wasting study periods by sitting doing nothing that appears to be constructive.

I think we all need a little time set aside to do nothing but think, to concentrate on what makes us happy, and separate ourselves from all that other stuff we had to do.

We’re not pigeons, and life is certainly a little more complicated than it was in ancient Greece, but why not give it a try? Make a little time for the basics.

Louisa xx

Make like a pigeon and you’re halfway there.