Deep Something

Apatheia in Practice

September 7, 2025September 7, 2025 B. John 1987 Views 0 Comments Viktor Frankl, Iris Murdoch, James Baldwin, Stoicism, Pierre Hadot, grief, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Resilience, Seneca, Apatheia, William James

This essay is not only about ideas. It comes from my own season of upheaval. I was laid off in June. My husband has just been laid off from his job. I’ve been away from home for three weeks, staying in my mother’s house while she was in and out of the hospital. This past Wednesday, she died. I was holding her hand as she took her last breaths. In the middle of all this, my study of Stoicism has helped me keep some balance. Not by taking away grief, but by helping me live through it without being consumed.

Apatheia means freedom from being ruled by unruly passion. It does not mean coldness. It does not mean apathy. The Stoics were clear about this. Seneca wrote that “anger is a short madness.” Epictetus warned his students not to confuse love with clinging. Marcus wrote, “Take away the thought I have been harmed, and the harm is taken away.” Apatheia does not erase feeling, but steadies it. It gives room for grief, anger, and fear without letting them take over.

Featured Places Kings Mountain Religion Methodism Stoicism Boone Deep Thoughts

The View from Above

August 29, 2025August 29, 2025 B. John 2391 Views 0 Comments Dichotomy of Control, View from Above, labyrinth, hospital, Wesleyan, Memento Mori, social holiness, Stoicism, Boone, Evening Reflection

I walked the hospital garden and followed the path of grace. At the end a bronze plaque carried lines from Psalms nine and ten. Refuge for the oppressed. God hears the afflicted. The metal was warm under my hand. Nothing was fixed. Yet something in me settled enough to breathe.

The Stoics call it the View from Above. Rise in your mind. See the room, the floor, the building, the town, the small blue world. The pain stays real, but it finds its size. From there the next right act appears. Ask a clear question. Hold a hand. Eat. Pray. Sleep if you can. The practice pairs with the dichotomy of control and with evening reflection. It opens the frame, then helps you learn from the day.

Tomorrow I head to Boone while my sister and a caregiver sit with Mom. Those mountains have taught me to climb, look, and return. The Wesleyan way names that rhythm as grace. Action without contemplation is unrooted. Contemplation without action is inconsequential. In a brittle season for our republic, this practice steadies my voice and keeps my heart useful.

Stoicism Deep Thoughts Featured Society Technology

Am I A Stoic? AI Says…meh

August 24, 2025August 25, 2025 B. John 1870 Views 0 Comments Stoicism, Marcus Aurelius, Enneagram, Type 7, AI conversation, funeral industry, Memento Mori

I get some “Prompt-A-Day” emails. One asked for a 10-question Enneagram quiz. I’m fascinated by these personality tests, though I dislike taking them. This time, instead of answering it myself, I fed the prompt into Claude, an AI system, and answered the quiz it created. What followed was more interesting than I expected.

The analysis suggested I’m an Enneagram Type 7, “The Enthusiast.” Energetic, future-focused, quick to act, and sometimes scattered under stress. It also noted I may lean on a Type 6 wing, which adds loyalty and a concern about what others think. Claude then connected this to Stoicism and told me I had some Stoic tendencies—but also some traits that make the Stoic life harder.
That led to a deeper exchange about the practices I’ve been turning to during hard times. When asked which practice mattered most, I answered quickly: memento mori. For me, remembering death isn’t just philosophy. I grew up in the funeral industry, worked in it during the early days of the AIDS epidemic, and cared for friends in their final days. Those experiences taught me more about life than death—and made Stoic practice feel like coming home.

Culture Art Boone Deep Thoughts Family Featured Fun Stuff Places Stoicism

The Graduation Gift

August 12, 2025August 15, 2025 B. John 2773 Views 1 Comment Seneca, Stoic philosophy, high school graduation, life transitions, personal growth, Epictetus, appalachian state university, Marcus Aurelius

A framed silhouette of my niece, standing before the mountains at sunset, carries a message for her high school graduation: “Behind you, all your memories. Before you, all your dreams. Around you, all who love you. Within you, all you need.” It is a blessing, but also a challenge — to live with gratitude for the past, purpose in the present, and trust in the strength we already carry. In its quiet way, it’s pure Stoic wisdom.

Deep Thoughts Featured Stoicism

When the Other Shoe Drops: Practicing Premeditatio Malorum

August 10, 2025August 9, 2025 B. John 1145 Views 0 Comments Premeditatio Malorum, Massimo Pigliucci

When I lost my job, I wasn’t surprised, but I wasn’t ready. In this essay, I explore the Stoic practice of Premeditatio Malorum, the art of imagining setbacks before they happen, and how it can help us meet life’s blows with steadiness instead of panic.

Deep Thoughts Featured Stoicism

Rising from the Defeat That Wasn’t

July 28, 2025August 1, 2025 B. John 2356 Views 0 Comments Amor Fati, Seneca, Maya Angelou, Grace, Stoicism, Marcus Aurelius

Sometimes the worst defeats are the ones you didn’t cause but still feel responsible for. A job ends. A friendship slips away. You tell yourself it wasn’t your fault, but that doesn’t stop the questions. Maya Angelou once wrote that defeat might be necessary—not because we deserve it, but because it reveals who we really are. This essay reflects on regret and unexpected renewal through the lens of Stoic thought and lived experience. What you rise from, it turns out, may be the truest part of you.

Culture NC Deep Thoughts Featured Places Stoicism Boone

Boone, Facebook, and Marcus Aurelius…Oh My

July 23, 2025July 24, 2025 B. John 1229 Views 0 Comments Modern Wisdom, Healing Places, Reflection, Appalachian State, Stoicism, Boone, Marcus Aurelius, Inspiration, Seneca, NC

I came across a meme that read, “There are two places you need to go often: The place that heals you. The place that inspires you.” It struck me deeply, because for me, one of those places is Boone, North Carolina, where I went to college. But as I reflected on that idea through the lens of Stoic philosophy, I realized the Stoics might offer a very different kind of guidance: to go inward. This essay explores the contrast, and surprising harmony, between modern healing and ancient inner retreat.

Culture Deep Thoughts Featured Stoicism

Amor Fati: Love What Happens

July 13, 2025August 5, 2025 B. John 2104 Views 2 Comments Marcus Aurelius, justice, Resilience, Courage, Amor Fati, Hope, Serenity Prayer, Reinhold Niebuhr, Acceptance, Moral Clarit, Stoicism, Fate

In a time of political unrest, personal uncertainty, and social fracture, the ancient Stoic idea of Amor Fati — to love one’s fate — offers a powerful challenge. Not to surrender to injustice, but to meet it with clarity, courage, and compassion. This essay reflects on the tension between acceptance and action, drawing on Marcus Aurelius, the Serenity Prayer, and a timely conversation with Rev. Justin LaRosa to explore how we can live fully and faithfully in the world we have, not just the one we wish for.

Culture Deep Thoughts Featured Friends Fun Stuff

Joy in the Margins

July 11, 2025 B. John 1091 Views 0 Comments Hope, Flamingos, Joy, Gratitude, Resilience, Senaca, Grace, Meaning

“Joy doesn’t cancel out the heavy things, but it gives you little pockets of strength to carry on. Let it in, whenever and wherever you can.” Joy isn’t a finish line. It’s a companion. A weird, sometimes inappropriately timed companion. It shows up when you need it, not when you deserve it. In this reflection, I explore how small moments of joy can help carry us through the weight of the world, with a little humor and maybe even a rubber chicken.

Deep Thoughts Featured Society

“Healing or Hiding?”

July 9, 2025July 8, 2025 B. John 909 Views 0 Comments Wellness Culture, Moral Clarity, Michell C. Clark, Resilience, Personal Reflection, Emotional Integrity, justice

What if the peace you’re chasing is actually keeping you asleep? In a world that rewards quiet compliance, true healing might look less like serenity and more like staying present, even when it hurts. This post explores why “wellness” without justice isn’t peace—it’s sedation.

Deep Thoughts Featured Stoicism

“You Belong Every Place” — Stoic Wisdom and the Freedom of Self-Acceptance

June 13, 2025June 13, 2025 B. John 1772 Views 0 Comments Stoics, Stoicism, Belonging, Comsomopolitanism

Every human being craves belonging. It’s why we form communities, join movements, wear team colors, and fly flags. We long for connection. But that longing can also become a trap, especially when our sense of worth is tied to others’ approval. In a time of personal upheaval, when you’ve lost a job or face uncertainty in your role or identity, the question of “Where do I belong?” can feel especially heavy. The layoffs, the narrowed opportunities, and the shifting terrain of social and political support can leave one feeling untethered and drifting. But Stoicism offers a grounding perspective. The Stoic does not belong to a company, a title, or even a particular season of life. The Stoic belongs to reason, to virtue, to nature. And those, as Marcus Aurelius wrote, are always with us, always within reach.

← Previous