Day 40 · Q1: Self-Knowledge · February 9, 2026

Pause. Breathe. Begin.

I .   L E C T I O

Seneca

Letters to Lucilius, Letter 28

You need to change your soul, not your climate. Though you cross vast oceans, your faults will follow you wherever you go.

C O N T E X T

Seneca warns his friend that travel is no cure for inner turmoil — your problems travel with you. Written nearly 2,000 years ago, this feels especially urgent in an age of digital escapism and geographic restlessness.

I I .   M E D I T A T I O

What problem have you tried to escape by changing your circumstances — only to find it waiting for you?

I I I .   S C R I P T I O

Write one sentence about something you carry with you that no change of scenery can cure.

I V .   C O N N E X I O

Seneca directly challenges Thoreau's retreat to Walden. Is going to the woods a genuine transformation, or just changing climate? Who is right?

This practice exists because of readers like you.

Sustain it

Tomorrow's passage, delivered at dawn.