Amor Fati or Love Life No Matter What

No, dear readers, this post is not about love, as the word Amor in this Latin phrase might suggest.Amor fati literally means “love of fate.” It enjoins us to accept whatever comes our way and even to embrace it with joy.While memento mori (see a previous post) reminds us how little time we have, how temporary existence can be.

Friedrich Nietzsche in his book of thoughts entitled The Joyful Wisdom called it his formula for greatness. He said that we should want nothing to be different, not in the past, not in the future, not for all eternity.Not merely endure what comes your way, still les conceal it – but love it. Marcus Aurelius reminded us, “A blazing fire makes flame and brightness out of everything that is thrown into it.” He tells us to become like the blazing fire and turn whatever comes our way into blazing light. Sounds counterintuitive? Difficult? Yes, but it is an attitude towards life that harnesses the power within us. Nothing great is ever simple. Robert Greene in his best-selling book 48 Laws of Power and Mastery, which became the bible of such rappers as 50 Cent, made the connection between these brilliant ideas. He described amor fati as a “power so immense that it’s almost hard to fathom. You feel that everything happens for a purpose, that there is a reason for everything, and that it’s up to you to make this purpose something positive and active.”Think of amor fati as a mindset that enables you to make the best of everything that happens. Treat every moment of life as something to be embraced and not to be avoided. Not only be okay with it, but love it and be better for it. Make every adversity oxygen to your fire, make obstacles and setbacks fuel for your growing potential.Shakespeare in As You Like It expressed this philosophy beautifully through the mouth of the Duke Senior:Sweet are the uses of adversity,Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,Wears yet a precious jewel in his head;And this our life, exempt from public haunt,Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,Sermons in stones, and good in every thing.The Duke’s words may seem far-fetched, but he is saying that no matter how bad our situation may seem on the surface, if we look more deeply we can find the “precious jewel” and turn things to our advantage.An example of an entire people who found a precious jewel and turned adversity to their advantage are the Venetians. They took refuge from the barbarians in swamps in northern Italy and would have vegetated there had it not been for their inventiveness. They learned to harvest and refine salt from sea water, started trading in it, and before long became very rich.Schopenhauer in a remarkable essay entitled “Transcendent Speculation on The Apparent deliberateness in the fate of the Individual” argued that there appears to be a supernatural guidance of the events in an individual’s life, so that when one looks back upon it, it seems like a well=written play. Things happened the way they did because that’s how they were supposed to happen.When we harness the principle of amor fati to this supernatural force, we acquire a great power. Can one find a precious jewel in the aftermath of an earthquake or a hurricane? We need to summon up great strength and courage to meet and embrace such challenges That’s why, for the Stoics, courage was the cardinal virtue.“The hunter worthy of the name always willingly takes the bitter if by so doing he can get the sweet, and gladly balances failure and success, spurning the poorer souls who know neither.”Theodore Roosevelt was talking about the philosophy of hunting when he said this, but he was also describing his philosophy of life. This is how the Stoic looks at things as well.So much of life is outside of our control, and indeed much of that is bitter. We set out to do something and we are quickly beset by challenges, by loss, by other people’s frustrating tendency to think about themselves over our needs. Yet we continue to put up with this. Not just because we have to, but because we know what’s on the other side is wonderful: friendships, success, If today ends up being another one of those days for you, try to remember what Roosevelt was talking about. Try saying to yourself, ‘I am taking the bitter to get to the sweet.’ Say, ‘It all balances out and I am lucky to have both when so many have neither.’ In this way you will not only grow stronger and more able to endure any misfortune that comes your way, but you will also be more grateful for and appreciative of the gifts you are given as well. In The Joyful Wisdom (Section 283) Nietzsche said, “For believe me, the secret for harvesting from existence the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment is to live dangerously! Build your cities on the slopes of Vesuvius! Send your ships into unexplored seas! Live in war with your equals and with yourselves! Be robbers and spoilers, you knowing ones, as long as you cannot be rulers and possessors! The time will soon pass when you can be satisfied to live like timorous deer in the forests. Knowledge will finally stretch out her hand for that which belongs to her; she means to possess, and you with her!”Must we love earthquakes and hurricanes? Nietzsche in The Joyful Wisdom said: “Only great pain is the ultimate liberator of the spirit….I doubt that such pain makes us ‘better’; but I know that it makes us more profound.”