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Stoic Spiritual Exercises – Cultivating Bravery
I’m deep into week 3 of the stoic spiritual exercises and tomorrow I will launch the final week and wrestle with Temperance. I have been busy and am only now getting to post about Bravery.
In the Stoic tradition Bravery has to do with the Discipline of Desire. What we desire is one of the four things that are under our control along with our opinion, moving toward a thing, and aversion. Bravery is rooted in recognizing that virtue is the only good and if we desire our life to be in accordance with nature we care little for external events.
What concern we do have for events is rooted in Amor Fati or Love of Fate. Whatever befalls us is necessary and an opportunity to exercise virtue. I’d something unpleasant or difficult occurs it’s a. Opportunity to practice forbearance. In frightening times of folks being gunned down in the streets it is an opportunity to practice bravery.
Alex Peretti gave a master class on bravery. He showed up and documented and tried to help. He was inviolate in his virtue. Though an ICE officer took his life they could not touch his spirit of resistance which is a bright flame that guides us all now.
The spiritual exercises this week have focused on physical health especially weight training. Becoming stronger physically can also inform our sense of self and allow for greater confidence and courage to take on tasks. I have maintained my work out routine and added a walk on a cold day and being mindful on my snow removal.
I did make a Facebook reel on the virtue. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1FYabN3eno/
I’ve also been doing a morning and evening meditation to set my intention for the day and then reflect on how it all came out. You can find them on my page. Twice a day posting and they e added up quick. The links only work for 30 days so sorry future readers. https://www.facebook.com/share/1RoH3YL6rn/
You can read the chart what the virtue means. I’ve been slow walking myself through the chapter on Discipline of Desire in The Inner Citadel by Hadot. It focuses on aiming our desires exclusively to moral good. Amor Fati means we love our fate as a rule because it’s necessary and an opportunity to practice virtue.
I’ve embraced the cold and living in a time where my government executes community observers in the streets. It’s made for an intense week which is why I’m only getting to posting the weekly virtue at the end of the week. Tomorrow I’ll introduce Temperance on Facebook Live at noon. Hope to post here Wednesday evening.
Be brave. Keep the faith. Solidarity, Community, Empathy.
Stoic Spiritual Exercises: Cultivating Justice
I am beginning my second week of stoic spiritual exercises. My last blog post was about cultivating Wisdom: https://multiconstruct.blog/2026/01/07/cultivating-wisdom/
Justice corresponds with the discipline of action. Each of us has the power to choose to move towards a thing and to move away from a thing. No thing is in our power but that does not stop us from pursuing goals and trying to achieve.
Stoicism is powerfully rooted in the individual. Virtue is the only good and virtue is the exclusive domain of our own actions and opinions. All else we cultivate an indifference towards so that we remain free and have a happy flow of life.
When we act, we must act in accordance with nature. When we observe other living things we see that they take action to obtain food and shelter, procreation, and the rearing of children. Humans are no different but we meet our needs socially in cooperation with others. Acting in accordance with nature requires right living and consideration of others. Stoicism is rooted in cosmopolitanism.
Self awareness begins when we are toddlers but it is many years and much growth before we learn that other people are conscious as well. We call it the narcissist dilemma. My thoughts and feelings are real and important because I think them and feel them, and others’ thoughts and feelings are mere rumors.
As we mature we realize our parents have feelings and needs and are not just characters in our story but are the protagonists of their own narrative. The rest of the family, my neighbors, other townspeople, and personal associates are all the same. We bring this understanding to our state, country, and in its most developed state all the people of the world.
Beyond that we think of all the people of the future. We share the same resource base and the decisions we make impact their lives. I want to leave more of a legacy than resource depletion and micro plastics; waste, debt, and bullshit. I want to leave the children something good.
This is Justice. Weighing our own interests as co-equal with all others. We give primacy to the people in front of us for sure but we are all bound together in a collective web of reciprocity and shared habitat.
We have to take in information and make decisions with others in mind to live a life of justice. Right actions, done at the right time, for the right reasons is what it means to live a just life.
I did a talk on Facebook today if you want a deeper dive: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1DvjEJ3Xgs/ It’s only going to be up for 30 days. If you like what I have to say but my book: https://breadandrosespress.com/products/the-practical-guide-to-building-a-better-world
Cultivating Wisdom
Today I kicked off 4 weeks of stoic spiritual exercises. I have framed the exercises around the four virtues: Wisdom, Justice, Courage, & Temperance. This week I want to talk about wisdom.
Philosophers get their name by being lovers of wisdom. Wisdom is not only knowledge but practical knowledge. Knowledge that informs our actions that allow us to be happier and more effective people. To exercise judgement and build our moral character.
Eudaimonia is a happy flow of life. It is living with purpose without being disturbed. Arius a disciple of Epictetus distilled his teachings into a small book called The Enchiridion.
The Enchiridion opens with: “Of things some are in our power and others are not…” Then he makes the definitive list of what those things are: Opinion, Movement towards a thing, Desire & Aversion or in a word, whatever are our own acts. Note, that no thing is in our power but the ability to strive towards a thing are well within our control.
Not in our power are the body, reputation, offices (magisterial power) and wealth, or in a word, whatever are not our own acts. Magisterial power has to do with holding an office or facing legal issues like going to jail or prison.
He goes on to talk about the nature of these categories. The things in our control are by nature free, not subject to restraint or hindrance. No one can force you to change your opinion or your goals, what you like and what you don’t like. These things alone are inviolate.
The things not in our control are weak, slavish, in the powers of others. Right living then becomes an act of categorization. Is this in my control or not. The wise person toggles between bravery and acceptance depending on the nature of the situation.
Epictetus then tells us what happens when we confuse what we own with what is in the hands of others: We will be disturbed, we will lament, we will blame both gods and men. The worst thing that can happen to someone is to be excuse ridden. If you don’t take responsibility for your life you can’t change it.
He also gives the promise that if your only concern is your own actions and you realize this is your only concern: you will blame no one, you will accuse no one, no one can compel you, and no one will harm you because you cannot be harmed.
You can take my car, slander my reputation, and jail my body. When I realize none of that is my true concern or an impediment to my will then none of that is really harmful.
So this week set a goal of self improvement. Take a look at the Enchiridion or Marcus Aurelius’s meditations. Put down the social media and open a book. Take 5 minutes for relaxation or meditation. Commit a helpful point to memory. Fall in love with wisdom all over again.
You can also follow my daily morning and evening meditations https://facebook.com/events/s/morning-meditation/1596039878200918/
https://facebook.com/events/s/evening-meditation/1433127815047245/
Holiday Letter 2025
Here it is early 2026 already and I’m just getting to my holiday Letter. 2025 was long, significant, and hard. For all the things that were good and I’m proud of, it was a difficult year I was happy to put to bed.
The year began with the bustle of moving into our new home. Shae and I bought a 1910 turnkey house in Leavenworth, Kansas at the end of last year and because she is a wonder it was quickly unpacked and decorated. Our things merged nicely and we only had to purchase a handful of items to have a beautiful tricked out house.
Shae, being a photographer has a great eye for light, composition, and color and I live in a house way cuter and put together than I have any right to. I have made good use of the kitchen to put out mostly healthy, scratch cooking, increasingly on a budget as the year progressed.
We have a formal dining room and got a nice dining room table to match my grandma’s china cabinet. We put it to good use with game nights and monthly gatherings of friends and associates. Shae has the Illuminati card game one of my particular favorites and we had several great games. Shae and I played a lot of chess and then Carcassone this year.
I continued my election organizing with the https://newamerican.community We posted over 100 learn articles based on needs identified in a comprehensive survey. We made contact with lots of County party organizations and provided fundraising and technical support to 20 different organizations. The County Party Orgs have a lot of potential but need a lot of consistent mentoring and follow up to make qualitative capacity improvements.
We also fought troubled private prison provider CoreCivic, who sought to reopen their troubled facility as an ICE detention facility. They applied for a permit in February and I wrote a blistering op ed to the LV Times calling for the permit to be rejected. A couple days later they withdrew from the permitting process and announced they were going to reopen.
I continued to write op eds and helped form a local opposition group and worked with regional allies to encourage the city of Leavenworth to defend their land rights. Leavenworth sued and won a temporary injunction. CoreCivic sued and lost. Appeals are pending with a hearing in February and CoreCivic applied for that permit with hearings scheduled in the spring.
Being part of a movement that is the only local community to stop an ICE detention facility has been satisfying. Here’s a link to one of my op eds if you want to learn more: https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/readers-opinion/guest-commentary/article303489741.html
Through all the organizing and activism I brought the Practical Guide to Building a Better World through the publishing process. I had a book release in Leavenworth and follow up events Columbia, Toledo, Farmington Michigan, and Bowling Green Ohio. You can get books directly from the publisher: https://breadandrosespress.com/products/the-practical-guide-to-building-a-better-world
I’ve had lots of media attention, more for the CoreCivic organizing then the book, unfortunately. The highlight was the NY Times coverage of The Pots and Pans March but my profile didn’t make the piece. I did get a nice profile in Voyage Minnesota.
https://voyageminnesota.com/interview/meet-mike-trapp-of-leavenworth-kansas/
The best book sales event I did was a training on working with homeless folks with the Missouri United Methodist Church homeless ministry team. It was a well attended powerful event and I got paid and sold a bunch of books. I have scheduled the training with the Daniel Boone Regional Library in Columbia for Saturday April 2nd. I hope to schedule more of those next year.
Last year we started Clear Creek Solutions LLC to manage the PAC. The consulting firm now pays the bills and the PAC is a volunteer effort. Our big contract is with Https: AnneforKansas.com Anne Peralker is an immigration attorney and moderate Kansas mom who is on fire to defend the constitution and the rule of law. She has a trust buster sensibility and when Kansas sends her as the first Democratic Senator since 1932 she will be the harbinger of the new FDR who will restore the federal system and address inequality and affordability.
In addition to the protest stuff I’ve been making the rounds doing some poetry and supporting the local arts. My gig work hasn’t paid as well this year and my savings are depleted so I’ve had to cut back. Shae has done well and is picking up the slack.
She took us and the boys to Chicago this summer and Seattle for Christmas. Aside from some trips to Columbia and a quick trip to OKC when Shae lost her brother and the book tour I’ve stuck close to home.
I stick with the gym and have had a year of physical training. I’m down to about 205, 15 pounds from my target weight and packed on muscle. I’ve corrected my posture and gait issues that were chewing up my knees. I’m almost bone on bone, but I hope to stay off knee replacements for another 3 years. I also resolved my fatty liver disease and have a clean bill of health.
I’ve read some great books. Four by my editor at Bread and Roses Adam Gnade, a book on military strategy I got a lot out of (I have to read Clausewitz), a book on Kansas petroglyphs, On Authoritarianism, Rules for Radicals (5th time or so) and other great books. My favorite was about Boss Tom Pendergast which was great in local history and practical politics.
Next year I am wrapping up at the gym and looking to improve my fitness with more activity and at the Leavenworth Community Center. I am going to do 4 weeks of Stoic spiritual exercises starting next Wednesday and inviting others to participate with me.
Look for at least a weekly post on developing virtuous habits and having a happy flow of life. I also plan to do more book promotion and continue to look for a career type job because of the insurance thing.
Thanks for sticking with me constant reader. I hope your next year is happy, healthy, and blessed.
Multiconstruct 
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