The fundamental idea of Stoicism is that we cannot control what happens to us (or the ones we love), we can only control how we respond. Julia Baird knows about cultivating this resilience and Stoic response, after losing her mother and battling health issues, and how approaching grief with a sense of grace can transform ourselves and the world around us. While in Sydney, Ryan had the chance to sit down with Julia in-person to discuss what she learned from researching the lives of Queen Victoria and Florence Nightingale, and why she was compelled to write about grace for her latest book, Bright Shining: How Grace Changes Everything. Julia Baird is an author, broadcaster, and journalist based in Sydney, Australia. Be sure to check out her books, Phosphorescence: A Memoir of Finding Joy When Your World Goes Dark, Victoria: The Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire, and Bright Shining: How Grace Changes Everything.  Follow Julia on Instagram @JuliaBaird and on X @BairdJulia  📕 Get a signed, numbered first-edition of the 10th Anniversary Edition of The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday at dailystoic.com/obstacle 🎟 Ryan Holiday is going on tour! Grab tickets for London, Rotterdam, Dublin, Vancouver, and Toronto at ryanholiday.net/tour ✉️ Want Stoic wisdom delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Stoic email at https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail 🏛 Get Stoic inspired books, medallions, and prints to remember these lessons at the Daily Stoic Store: https://store.dailystoic.com/ 📱 Follow us:  Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.