In this article we will explore what it means to examine your impressions. You will gain an idea of how this meditation can help you improve your thoughts and positively influence your perspective.
According to the Stoic philosopher Epictetus, examining one’s impressions is the first step towards a happier life. Epictetus’ philosophical belief was all about focusing on your thoughts (soul or mind) when making decisions. Since we are all gifted with reason, everybody has a notion for what is good or bad.
However, Epictetus believed those notions can become unclear during certain times, because we can become confused by many individual cases where good can be mistaken for bad, and vice-versa. The purpose of Stoicism is to guide us in examining those unclear notions. Practicing this philosophy can help us to clear our minds, so we can come to accurate and fair conclusions.
First of all, it is important to note that Stoics separated everything into two groups: the things we can control, and those we can’t. We will focus on the first group in order to determine exactly what is in our power.
“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters”
Epictetus
Epictetus recorded his belief that our thoughts are the most important tool when dealing with outside events and people. Therefore, it is important to know what we can do to help ourselves. While inspecting himself and his surroundings, Epictetus surely noticed that many people often mistook the objective world and their subjective perspective. Many of us are prone to believe that our perspective is what represents the world, which is not true. In order to objectively view the world around us, we must first understand the nature of our impressions.
The Nature of Impressions
So, what are our impressions? Philosophically speaking, impressions are the qualities of our experiences. Everybody has their own impressions about something, from something as simple as the taste of coffee to the concepts of justice, good and evil, beauty and ugliness, etc. Impressions are qualities of our subjective experience, although they may be impacted by our genes, upbringing, or the popular views of our society.
Sometimes, we can forget about the subjective quality of our experience and we may think our own views are the same as the rest of the world – simply put, we think our opinion is true and universal. This is why we tend to gravitate to those who share the same opinions as us, while we are not so eager to spend time with those who oppose our beliefs.
“People are not disturbed by things, but by the views they take of them.”
Epictetus
What should we do with our impressions then? Epictetus followed the Socratic principle of examination – the idea that an unexamined life isn’t worth living. The importance of reflection cannot be understated. Examining one’s life means thinking about your own position, values, thoughts, relationships with others, etc. In other words, reflecting on your experience and understanding why you hold those impressions.
The only way to truly understand your own impressions is to reexamine the external events of your life and your own values, as well as the values of others. For this task, we strongly advise you to meditate; however, keep in mind that this meditation should be different. Instead of emptying your mind, you will need to think.
Our impressions about the world and others can lead us to actions that are harmful, or may inhibit us from doing things that may benefit us. To prevent this from happening, you can examine those impressions that you deem true and valuable.
Meditation – Examine Your Impressions
Note: everyday meditation can help you to strengthen your character to avoid harmful impressions.
Sit down in a quiet room, or your backyard, or anywhere where no one can interrupt you. Close your eyes and actively think about those thoughts and ideas that upset you, especially the ones you would usually avoid acknowledging altogether. Once you have gathered all your impressions about the problem, ask yourself why do you have those impressions? Where do they come from? Who is responsible for those troublesome thoughts? Look deeper and you will find that nobody has “given you” those impressions; you are the one creating them by painting events and objects in the colors of your emotions.
If you think like this, you will build up an impression on everything. Some people will appear as enemies because of the anger you feel towards them. Others, you will consider as friends because of the positive emotions you associate with them. In all cases, impressions are deceptive. This is why philosophy is needed to clear away the uncertainty in order to free you from your impressions.
The best thing to do is to clear your mind of these impressions and to liberate your thoughts from unexamined emotions. Think objectively about your emotions, such as sadness, anger, jealousy, disgust and so on, and you will notice how they slowly fade away like footprints on the beach.
