Why "The Porch?"

In Ancient Greece, there was a site that became the birthplace of therapy. A place to mend the soul, repair relationships, live according to nature, choose virtue over vice, and prepare one's character for the real world. This place was the "Stoa Poikile," or as we would say, The Painted Porch. Nestled within the Agora of Ancient Athens, philosophers from different sects would gather to unravel the mysteries, pains, and sources of satisfaction of everyday life. For these philosophers, the translation meaning "lovers of wisdom," living well was not simply a goal, but a demand from life.

These philosophers would practice group therapy on a daily basis, girding themselves for the life ahead of them outside of the stone columns of The Porch. To rejuvenate, to teach, to learn - these were the goals of this hallowed place. And its name, Stoa or Porch, became the name that inspired one of the greatest philosophical schools of the ancient and modern world - Stoicism.

Stoicism was originally founded by a man named Zeno of Citium when he lost his personal and family fortune in a shipwreck. Unfortunately for Zeno, or fortunately depending upon your perspective, there were no credit unions or online banking during his time - he carried his wealth with him, and when he found himself at the mercy of a terrible storm, he lost nearly everything. His wealth. His Ship. His power. The only thing he escaped with was his life. However, this would turn out to be plenty enough.

Zeno found himself within a bookshop in Athens, and upon picking up a book on philosophy, he turned to the shopkeeper and asked "where can I find a man like this?" And the shopkeeper pointed him in a direction that would change his life forever. Originally following the Cynic school of philosophy, one that aimed to remove nearly all pleasures from life as to squash desire, Zeno found himself at home. However, he broke off from the Cynics, claiming that it was not pleasure that brought destruction in life, but excess desire of it. And so, he formed his own school of philosophy, and instead of naming it after himself as many other philosophers did, he chose to name it after the meeting ground for wisemen all over Greece - the Stoa. From his teachings, philosophy changed - and the world with it. Some of its greatest scholars in Ancient Greece and Rome came from all walks of life, from the poor and enslaved with Epictetus, to the Emperor of Rome with Marcus Aurelius. To live in accordance with nature, to focus on what one can control. In the modern day, this philosophy permeates many if not most traditions and were a part of the building blocks for Albert Ellis' Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy and Aaron Beck's Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. So why "The Porch?" It gets back to the roots of why therapy works in the first place. A love of wisdom and of good character in a world that constantly tries to distract us from being who we are meant to be. Who are you meant to be?