Ready to begin or deepen your meditation practice? Join Dan Harris and world-class meditation teachers on the 10% with Dan Harris app here: https://app.danharris.com/membership What happens when a novelist spends 12 years building her own personal philosophy of life out of ancient Stoic texts — and then writes a novel about its limits? That's roughly where this conversation begins. Maria Semple is the bestselling author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette, Today Will Be Different, and This One Is Mine. Her new novel, Go Gentle, follows Adora Hazzard — a recently divorced Stoic philosopher and moral tutor on the Upper West Side — who gets pulled into an international mystery that tests every bit of equanimity she's cultivated. In this conversation, Maria and Dan cover: - The "Dig It Baby" sign on Maria's desk — the acting teacher at a Buddhist retreat who inspired it, and why it's become a life philosophy - What Stoicism actually is: the three disciplines (thought, desire, action), the four virtues (wisdom, courage, justice, temperance), and why it's been around since 300 BC for good reason - Maria's step-by-step morning practice — a 60-page personal workbook she's been refining for over a decade - Seneca's "preferred indifference" and "dis-preferred indifference" — the clunky term that unlocks a whole way of relating to what you can't control - Why Stoicism is cold in just the right ways — and where it falls short when chaos and love show up - Dan reframes meditation for a guest who dreads it — and Maria commits to a 10-day metta experiment on the spot - The difference between "I have to do this" and "I get to do this" — and why it matters more than it sounds - How childhood fantasy became the engine of a career as a novelist - "Good enough is pretty amazing" — and why non-attachment to results is the only sane way to finish a book Subscribe to watch more 10% Happier videos: https://www.youtube.com/tenpercenthappier Follow Dan Harris on Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/danharris/ https://www.tiktok.com/@danbharris https://www.facebook.com/DanHarrisABC https://twitter.com/danbharris https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-harris-91ba5716b/ Timestamps: 0:00:00 Introduction and "Dig It Baby" — the sign on Maria's desk 0:05:00 Cognitive reframing as a practice — and the Stoic roots of it 0:10:00 Why practice matters more than insight 0:13:00 How Maria got into Stoicism — and what it actually is 0:18:00 Maria's morning Stoic practice, step by step 0:23:00 How to do a bootleg version of the practice yourself 0:26:00 The novel Go Gentle — Adora Hazzard, desire, and the limits of a philosophy 0:30:00 Is Go Gentle a repudiation of Stoicism? 0:32:00 Nietzsche vs. the Stoics — and where Maria stands now 0:33:00 Maria hates meditating — Dan reframes it 0:38:00 Metta as an antidote to anxiety and fear 0:42:00 Where Stoicism is cold — and what's missing 0:44:00 Why Maria never thought about her own character before Stoicism 0:45:00 "Baited bounties" — Seneca, the Buddha, and the terrible bait of the world 0:48:00 Preferred vs. dis-preferred indifference — wanting things without being attached to them 0:51:00 How do you get things done with non-attachment? 0:53:00 Fantasy as a survival mechanism — and how it became a creative superpower 0:55:00 "Good enough is pretty amazing" and "I want to have written this book" 0:58:00 Non-attachment to results — the Buddhist and Stoic versions #stoicism #creativity #mentalhealth This episode is sponsored by: Rosetta Stone — Language learning that's immersive and intuitive. Start your journey at https://www.rosettastone.com/happier ButcherBox — 100% grass-fed beef, free-range organic chicken, and wild-caught seafood delivered to your door. New listeners get chicken breasts or top sirloin for a year, or ground beef for life, plus $20 off at https://www.butcherbox.com/happier