tiktok has repackaged stoicism

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onto today’s topic: tiktok has repackaged stoicism 🗿

we are in a nonchalant and mysterious epidemic. there’s this funny trend of being “nonchalant” by not caring about what you can’t control and honestly? it’s just stoicism repackaged in a really superficial and childish way LOL. 

stoicism is a pretty old philosophy that believes happiness comes from focusing on the things we can control (thoughts, emotions, actions) and accepting the things we can’t control. 🧠

nonchalance is a stereotype bloomed from this philosophy where stoics are seen as emotionless, uncaring people. i’ve done a lot of mental back and forth with stoicism and i think it’s a line someone must tread carefully. 

controlling your emotions doesn’t mean masking or hiding them away. i firmly believe we should all express emotion, both the negative ones and positive ones — the only thing is that they shouldn’t be expressed in a way that harms others. ❤️ nonchalance is similar(ish). you’re basically just accepting things as they come, and even if something goes wrong, you’re not letting it affect you. at least on the outside, which is the key difference between stoicism and just being nonchalant.

tiktok’s version of nonchalance is like a facade — just acting like things are okay, but then you go home and go into a mental spiral. stoicism is truly accepting everything is fine and accepting that you’re feeling certain emotions, but not letting these feelings drive you into making detrimental impulsive decisions. 

i wouldn’t necessarily call myself a stoic just because of the image that’s placed onto this philosophy, but i am definitely trying to accept the things i can’t control and just focus on the ones that are within my power. 

what is your take on stoicism?

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