Plotinus: The Negative Way

How do you know who you actually are? 'Stay true to yourself.' 'Be authentic.' 'You do you.' But how do you actually know who that 'you' is? Well, the ancient Greek philosopher Plotinus might give us a solution, because Plotinus is famous for giving us what's called the 'negative way,' or the 'via negativa.' And this says that if you want to find or understand something, you should subtract all of the things that are not that thing. So, for example, if you want to decide what to wear for work, you should subtract all of the things that you don't want to wear. And the thing that you have left, ideally, is the thing that you have to wear. So Plotinus asks us to imagine our authentic self as like a statue contained within a block of marble. And the art of finding that statue is about chipping away all of those things you don't care about. Chip away the things you do for money or for praise, or because you have to. Chip away the chores, the jobs, and the responsibilities. What you are left with is your authentic being, and if you do more of that, you will thrive. In other words, you need to reduce. Cut out all of the impositions and pressures in life. Cut out all of the have-tos and must-dos. Cut out all of the things that you don't actually want to do, because what you have left will be you.