Why I want to live like Socrates for a day

Background

We played some team bonding games at work. One of the questions was - "Which celebrity would you like to live as for a day?".

I answered that I would like to live as Socrates. One of my friends was surprised and asked if I was sure, as Socrates used to live a low-key life in poor conditions.

I said that I was very confident.

Approach

My approach may seem divergent from the question asked. Most people would like to know the lifestyles of their idols. They would want to live the day like the kings and queens they admire.

While I believe that is great for relaxation and an alternate perspective, we can extract more from that day.

So I approached the question from an angle of what I can learn on that day that will help me make decisions once I return to my everyday life.

This is not easy to do. Because the people that we choose may have a lifestyle so drastically different from ours that nothing applies to our life.

But still, the fundamental human truths remain the same for all people and periods, and that is what my focus is for this question.

Why Socrates

I am fascinated by Socrates. We know nothing about him except what his pupil Plato wrote in his books. Spending a day like him or observing him will be an opportunity to come in contact with a person who is in touch with his originality.

This is very important for me because few people are willing to examine things and dare express their original thoughts. Instead, they would follow the paths others set and keep doing things as they have done in the past.

Socrates was not only an original thinker but perhaps one of the best in history. I would like to know what made him so intrigued by experiencing the reality that he didn't even have time to pen down his thoughts or to make his experiences known to others.

I believe he was in a constant state of flow. He was so high on the reality that stopping to write about it would be a degradation of experiences that he was having. Or perhaps he stumbled upon some truth like every person should experience this on their own, and educating people on his adventures was futile.

Whatever it is, it is enchanting, and I would like to know more if I can.

What do I want to achieve on that day?

I cannot plan that day. So I have to take whatever I get.

So keeping my mind open, I want to understand what made him make his choices. Anything I can unearth about his life that made him the way he is would be extraordinary.

But most importantly, I want to get rid of my fears. If I can understand how Socrates was so happy living in poor conditions, it will give me confidence.

If I can learn how to focus on the things that matter when you are poor, it will fill me with immense confidence that, even if I fall from grace in my life, I can still be happy focusing on the fundamental truths of life.

That's what I believe Socrates discovered from his explorations. He was not interested in worldly possessions and relationships. Instead, he was focused on experiencing reality by exploring the truths.

Suppose I can understand what he understood about the reality of human life. In that case, I will be confident to take the most significant life risks without worrying about reaching poor conditions and falling into despair.

That is a wisdom that I would like to carry from him in my regular life.