If only there were an EpicuruCon...

Quote from Don

Part of me

Just light a fire under that part and let us know! Now that you're taking a break from the podcast and have extra time on your hands we've just been waiting to support you on a new project!

I have been encouraging Kalosyni because she is interested in working on a "set of guidelines" or an "agenda" or a "protocol" as to how a local live or local zoom (targeted towards allowing the formation of real-life Epicurean Friendship Groups) might function. Maybe :"Live Like An Epicurean For a Week" has an analogy to "Live Like an Epicurean For Weekend" or "Live Like and Epicurean for an Hour" (on a zoom)?

I was thinking the title could be something like: "The Epicurean Friendship Meeting Handbook" or maybe just "The Epicurean Meeting Handbook" -- and it would have a guide for 12 weeks of meetings, including handouts with info of what will be studied that week. The difference between Zoom and in person meetings would be that food would be part of an in-person meeting

Quote from Don

Part of me wants to come up with a "Live like an Epicurean for a Week" annual event

We need to do that every February! The week preceeding Feb. 20th. or at least an EpicuruCon.

Quote from Kalosyni

"The Epicurean Friendship Meeting Handbook" or maybe just "The Epicurean Meeting Handbook"

Thinking a 12 (or eight) week overview of Epicureanism, alternating with 12 (or eight) weeks focusing just on just ethics -- and repeat that pattern throughout the year. Or maybe every fall focus on the overview and every spring focus on ethics. Of course this will probably end up being online.

Then the summer is open for "an Epicurean travel exchange" in which Epicureans invite other Epicureans to travel and spend a few days at their own house, and everyone takes turns hosting one or more visitors.

Quote from Kalosyni

Then the summer is open for "an Epicurean travel exchange" in which Epicureans invite other Epicureans to travel and spend a few days at their own house, and everyone takes turns hosting one or more visitors.

Such an ambitious goal indicates to me that either (1) Kalosyni has not absorbed the alleged doctrine that all ambition and desire is bad, and that we should focus on pursuing only on those pleasures that are necessary, or (2) no such doctrine was taught by Epicurus.

In my world of Epicurus, option (2) rules the day!

Quote from Cassius

Such an ambitious goal

I am extracting only these few words, since I think there might be some validity. It is ambitious since it first requires people to feel comfortable in their connections with each other -- friendship -- and of course that is quite difficult to do over Zoom. So further anaylizing that it may be unrealistic. Just ideas and trying them out -- that is what is happening here on the forum -- testing out whether or not the Epicurean philosophy can be adequately elucidated -- and then seeing if they are of interest to anyone. If ideas are not helpful, there may not be very much show of interest.

Quote from Kalosyni

Just ideas and trying them out -- that is what is happening here on the forum -- testing out whether or not the Epicurean philosophy can be adequately elucidated -- and then seeing if they are of interest to anyone

Correct! Ambition and experimentation may sometime go further than our reach and have to be considered carefully when they approach that, but in general they are good and a large part of what life is about. The total absence of them means death, and it would not even be necessary to say that if we weren't all so familiar with religions and viewpoints that explicitly or implicitly advocate exactly the reduction of them to zero.