Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter

Sophrosyne

Last week, a friend sent me a link to a Ness Labs article on sophrosyne. Sophrosyne is the ancient Greek word that describes a well-balanced individual. Often explained in contrast to the better-known word, hubris, sophrosyne is what many of us claim we seek: balance, good character, self-control, calm.

As I often write, so much of the clutter and chaos in our daily lives come from fear, from rushing, from being off-kilter or off-balance. When you are working too much or playing too much, things are thrown out of balance, and life becomes chaotic. Chaos begets chaos, which leads to misplaced things, which leads into a never-ending cycle of replacing things, be they passports or rash guards—things that deep down, you know you have somewhere, if only you had time to look for them.

But sophrosyne goes beyond being centered and calm, it speaks to character. If hubris is foolish pride, then sophrosyne is prudence, moderation, self-containment. When you act out of sophrosyne, you don’t need to buy a new dress to boost your self-esteem. You don’t need to prove yourself through extravagant purchases. You don’t overbuy or overdo or show-off. This may sound a little puritanical in this late-capitalist era of excess, but as I see it, a little prudence might be exactly what we all need right now.

Consider this: When you seek balance, when you know that you are enough just as you are, not only will you will have more serenity and less clutter, but you will be developing sophrosyne, and that, my friends, is a noble goal.