Deep Something

The View from Above

August 29, 2025August 29, 2025 B. John 2390 Views 0 Comments View from Above, labyrinth, hospital, Wesleyan, Memento Mori, social holiness, Stoicism, Boone, Evening Reflection, Dichotomy of Control

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.

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Boone, Facebook, and Marcus Aurelius…Oh My

July 23, 2025July 24, 2025 B. John 1228 Views 0 Comments Boone, Marcus Aurelius, Inspiration, Seneca, NC, Modern Wisdom, Healing Places, Reflection, Appalachian State, Stoicism

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.

Featured Fun Stuff Places Kings Mountain

First Snows

November 22, 2024November 22, 2024 B. John 1062 Views 0 Comments Boone, Snow, Appalachian State

The Western North Carolina Mountains had their first snow day today. Watching the webcams from time to time during the day brought back many great memories. There’s a magic to the first snow that roots itself deep in memory, stretching across years and places. In Kings Mountain, NC, where the winters were mild and snow was a gift rather than a certainty, the first flakes meant the world was about to change. As a kid, waking up to a white-coated street was like waking up on Christmas morning. School would call it a day, and we’d pile out of the house, sleds in hand, to the steep street just beyond our driveway.

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Let It Snow

December 2, 2009August 10, 2015 B. John 419 Views 0 Comments a.s.u., appalachian state university, Boone, NC, Let it Snow, ASU Jazz Ensemble

Coming from the ASU Jazz Ensemble, it’s a pretty appropriate song even if the mountains don’t seem to get as much snow as they did when I attended.

Featured Places Kings Mountain Tampa General

Favorite Season

September 30, 2009September 29, 2018 354 Views 0 Comments Appalachian Mountains, fall, seasons, Boone, Blowing Rock, Autumn

OK, I know that about this time every year I write something about Autumn being my favorite time of year. I know, Tampa, FL is not the place to be thinking about Autumn. I think we get our Autumn here in January, the time of year when these nasty live oaks dump a big portion of their leaves. Still, there is a rhythm that comes with the seasons no matter where one lives, and I love this time of year for the sense of “settling-in.”

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Open Letter to App. State Chancellor

April 29, 2009 B. John 509 Views 2 Comments a.s.u., appalachian state university, homophobia, hate, Boone, Fifth Congressional District, Virginia Foxx, Matthew Shepard, Hate Crimes Act, Congress

U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx represents the congressional district that includes my alma mater, and she has attended ASU events and activities to advance her political career and give her an undeserved credibility. Over the past several days, Rep. Foxx has made a number of inflammatory statements during the House’s consideration of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act. Today, Rep. Foxx crossed a line when she took to the floor of the House, claimed that Shepard was killed as part of a robbery, and called the hate aspect of the crime “a hoax.”

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Thanksgiving Summary

December 2, 2007September 29, 2018 B. John 280 Views 0 Comments thanksgiving, Boone, North Carolina, Blowing Rock

I know it’s a bit late, but I thought I’d write an update from our Thanksgiving trip to North Carolina.

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Cold In Tampa

November 17, 2007September 29, 2018 B. John 315 Views 0 Comments Boone, Blowing Rock, Appalachian Ski Mountain, Sugar Mountain, Weather, thanksgiving

It remains dry, but it’s been very cool the past few nights, getting into the 40’s. There could be some frost tonight north of here and inland. Lay’s nephews are over to spend the night, as two of them have birthday’s next week. We won’t be here. Lay and I will be traveling to North Carolina. While I’m taking the whole week off, Lay will be working Monday and Tuesday, so unfortunately, we’ll be on the road Wednesday. I am not looking forward to that.

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Time In North Carolina

November 22, 2006September 29, 2018 B. John 421 Views 1 Comment Blue Ridge Parkway, Cone Mansion, Boone, North Carolina, Blowing Rock

I drove up to North Carolina Monday to spend time with the folks over Thanksgiving. Lay is flying in Thursday morning, and we’ll drive back together either Friday or Saturday (definitely not Sunday).

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Remember The Late Night College Bull Sessions?

October 28, 2006September 29, 2018 B. John 327 Views 0 Comments a.s.u., appalachian state university, Boone, Eggers Dorm, North Carolina

In Eggers dorm at ASU, because I was a Resident Assistant, I’d often find myself hanging out in the Resident Director’s apartment with friends chewing over the great questions of life. (At least when Larry “Rainbow” Johnson was the RD.) Anyway, I want to try to get back to just a little of that. While sitting around in same room isn’t so practical in this forum, at least this opens the discussion to a lot of people.