Gabriel, this reached me deeply. I have come to trust silence as one of my clearest teachers. It often strips life down to its essence and lets me hear the next small step beneath all the noise.
Recently, silence has been telling me: stay and become.
I am still listening for what that means — how much of me has already become, how much is still unfolding, and whether becoming is sometimes less about striving and more about staying long enough to meet what has been quietly forming all along.
“The absence of something to say is itself information” — yes. Silence is not empty. It is full of what has not yet found words.
Silence and darkness are old friends of mine. It is so easy to get carried away by all the noise and hype... pressure to do. Every time I resist allowing silence or darkness, my posture braces. Your invitation to sit in silence landed like recognition. "See, remember?" Ah, yes. Sigh. Thank you. 🙏
I've been thinking about that desire to leave... and how we always know when it's time. We chose not to stay in Appalachia after Hurricane Helene. I knew it wasn't right for me, and 'home' was calling. So, I'm here doing the opposite work: rooting. Feels strange to want to root down deep now... but the heart wants what it wants.
This geographical region is my "home." While I am a 3rd generation immigrant on my father's side (my grandfather came to the US from the Netherlands in the early 1950's), my maternal lineage has been here much longer. Western Michigan, this land... it holds the bones and memories of my recent ancestors, including my father and one of my children, and I know the spirits of this place. I've lived in other areas where the energy of the sacred is strong... but that wasn't my home. I've visited sacred sites in the UK, and while my ancient ancestors likely knew that land... it was not my home.
I've thought a lot about my grandfather. The horrors I know he was running from when he left his home, barely more than a teen boy. What he left behind to come here. How it affected him, and his children... and grandchildren. I did not learn the truth of what he survived until I was in my early 40s, and it changed my perspective of his life dramatically (softened).
What he ran from is now here, and there's nowhere to run for me. Not anymore. Rooted. Staying. Even if it means becoming compost. I'm okay with that. New things will grow from what we have cultivated here... even after we are gone. I'm at peace with that. It's been hard work, but I accept what is. I surrender to what will be.
I am curious. Is there a place that calls to you when you long for the feeling of 'home?'
Thank you for this beautiful share. The depiction of your home, your rooting, the fact that there is nowhere to run anymore. Beautiful. Touching in fact. I can feel you.
I was born in France. Never felt I belong there. In fact I even start doubting I belong to human species at all. So I have never felt home anywhere. I think I have the genes of a nomad. Someone the winds of life blow here and there...
I am not thinking of leaving the US because of fear of the imminent downfall. On the contrary, I have wondered many time if it was not my work to witness yet another collapse like I have witnessed so many before.
i would say my primary concern is to pay taxes in a country that I disapprove so much of the way they use my contribution. I could also stop paying taxes, but here that would probably lead me to prison even faster than murder.
but beyond that, I am following instincts here , always seeking further alignment with the flow of life... and I have felt an increase sense of discomfort being here.
so the feeling of home for me is probably not in a physical place for this lifetime. More like a sense of being in the right place at the right time. And when that feeling is present I know it well...
I am not advocating for everyone to do the same. I appreciate and deeply respect your stance of saying I am here. It is home and I am ok to die here if it is my story. While at the same time when people ask me "what have you learn from collapse?" I usually say, mobility, adaptability, spontaneity are the keys to navigate collapse. But hese word can be interpreted in many ways.
Thank you for sharing your heart here. That doubting whether you belong to the human species at all is a feeling I am familiar with. It calls to mind the definition of the Welsh word hiraeth. There are parts of me that identify with that on a level I can't explain with words.
I appreciate your clarification around the reasons you might not stay in the US. I made a bit of an assumption, or rather, projected my own meaning in my comment instead of asking you a question. Please forgive me. I'm learning.
Following instincts and watching for synchronicities is a profound way to move through life. I've been light and somewhat free for a while. Staying open to adaptation and fluid in response to life is a gift--and one I'm sure will carry you well through whatever comes. I lived that way for a brief time. It had its blessings and curses!
May you find the right place at the right time, wherever that may be. Thanks again for the conversation. xx
From Wild Altar @ritualtable —
Our work?
To protect the quiet long enough
to hear it.
Gabriel, this reached me deeply. I have come to trust silence as one of my clearest teachers. It often strips life down to its essence and lets me hear the next small step beneath all the noise.
Recently, silence has been telling me: stay and become.
I am still listening for what that means — how much of me has already become, how much is still unfolding, and whether becoming is sometimes less about striving and more about staying long enough to meet what has been quietly forming all along.
“The absence of something to say is itself information” — yes. Silence is not empty. It is full of what has not yet found words.
this:
“less about striving and more about staying long enough to meet what has been quietly forming all along”
🙏 🙏 🙏
Psalm 46, verse 10: “Be still, and know that I am God.”
https://kathleenmccroskey.substack.com/cp/200918572
Yes. Thank you.
🙏🏼
(..........................................) Thank you.
Even silence can be packaged and sold.
It is so fricking hard to simply be in place and let the stillness wash over you.
Simplicity in all things. You will know when it is time to act.
The bracing in my posture loosened by the conclusion. Thank you. I didn’t know I needed to hear this until I read it. 🙏
i an world where procrastination is a curse, asking people to sit and do nothing for a while seems crazy, and yet so much can come out of the pause…
I am happy you could loosened by the end… even though I did not intend to do that! 🤣
Silence and darkness are old friends of mine. It is so easy to get carried away by all the noise and hype... pressure to do. Every time I resist allowing silence or darkness, my posture braces. Your invitation to sit in silence landed like recognition. "See, remember?" Ah, yes. Sigh. Thank you. 🙏
I've been thinking about that desire to leave... and how we always know when it's time. We chose not to stay in Appalachia after Hurricane Helene. I knew it wasn't right for me, and 'home' was calling. So, I'm here doing the opposite work: rooting. Feels strange to want to root down deep now... but the heart wants what it wants.
This geographical region is my "home." While I am a 3rd generation immigrant on my father's side (my grandfather came to the US from the Netherlands in the early 1950's), my maternal lineage has been here much longer. Western Michigan, this land... it holds the bones and memories of my recent ancestors, including my father and one of my children, and I know the spirits of this place. I've lived in other areas where the energy of the sacred is strong... but that wasn't my home. I've visited sacred sites in the UK, and while my ancient ancestors likely knew that land... it was not my home.
I've thought a lot about my grandfather. The horrors I know he was running from when he left his home, barely more than a teen boy. What he left behind to come here. How it affected him, and his children... and grandchildren. I did not learn the truth of what he survived until I was in my early 40s, and it changed my perspective of his life dramatically (softened).
What he ran from is now here, and there's nowhere to run for me. Not anymore. Rooted. Staying. Even if it means becoming compost. I'm okay with that. New things will grow from what we have cultivated here... even after we are gone. I'm at peace with that. It's been hard work, but I accept what is. I surrender to what will be.
I am curious. Is there a place that calls to you when you long for the feeling of 'home?'
Thank you for this beautiful share. The depiction of your home, your rooting, the fact that there is nowhere to run anymore. Beautiful. Touching in fact. I can feel you.
I was born in France. Never felt I belong there. In fact I even start doubting I belong to human species at all. So I have never felt home anywhere. I think I have the genes of a nomad. Someone the winds of life blow here and there...
I am not thinking of leaving the US because of fear of the imminent downfall. On the contrary, I have wondered many time if it was not my work to witness yet another collapse like I have witnessed so many before.
i would say my primary concern is to pay taxes in a country that I disapprove so much of the way they use my contribution. I could also stop paying taxes, but here that would probably lead me to prison even faster than murder.
but beyond that, I am following instincts here , always seeking further alignment with the flow of life... and I have felt an increase sense of discomfort being here.
so the feeling of home for me is probably not in a physical place for this lifetime. More like a sense of being in the right place at the right time. And when that feeling is present I know it well...
I am not advocating for everyone to do the same. I appreciate and deeply respect your stance of saying I am here. It is home and I am ok to die here if it is my story. While at the same time when people ask me "what have you learn from collapse?" I usually say, mobility, adaptability, spontaneity are the keys to navigate collapse. But hese word can be interpreted in many ways.
Love
Thank you for sharing your heart here. That doubting whether you belong to the human species at all is a feeling I am familiar with. It calls to mind the definition of the Welsh word hiraeth. There are parts of me that identify with that on a level I can't explain with words.
I appreciate your clarification around the reasons you might not stay in the US. I made a bit of an assumption, or rather, projected my own meaning in my comment instead of asking you a question. Please forgive me. I'm learning.
Following instincts and watching for synchronicities is a profound way to move through life. I've been light and somewhat free for a while. Staying open to adaptation and fluid in response to life is a gift--and one I'm sure will carry you well through whatever comes. I lived that way for a brief time. It had its blessings and curses!
May you find the right place at the right time, wherever that may be. Thanks again for the conversation. xx
Thank you 🙏🏻✨