Notes From the Road — 26 Feb 2025
Wandering updates from my travels in Van Gogh, trails I'm exploring, photos I've taken, and more
WANDERING UPDATE
Hello Friends and Fellow Seekers of the Good True Beautiful!
We’ve been averaging high temps between 65F and 75F (18C to 23C for the rest of the world) here in the red rock highlands of middle Arizona these past few weeks, and I have been loving it. I could not be happier with my decision to take Van Gogh south for these winter months. It feels like cheating to wear shorts and a t-shirt in the middle February, but I am definitely diggin’ the vibe. Plus, the beauty of these landscapes! Man. A lot of folks say there’s an ancient wild magic bound up in these old rocks. It’s not hard to understand why. Thin places everywhere.
Here’s a bit of what I’ve been up to, and what I’ll be up to next (maybe):
My soon to be released epic fantasy series continues to march toward publication. Interior design for book 1, Gideon’s Dawn, has now been completed, and in the interior design for book 2, Waymaker, is well under way. The books look amazing! I can’t wait to share them with you!
About that: Official Release Dates for all four books will be announced VERY SOON. I’ve just got a few more logistics to finalize before I can declare the dates far and wide! Feels wild to be this close to making this dream real!
For those interested in getting a taste of the story, you can now download a copy of the Prologue for Gideon’s Dawn, totally free! Just visit the novel website then scroll down a bit and you’ll see where to type in your email so I can send you the link to download the Prologue.
My next Identity Matters newsletter will be going out soon. In this one I'll be talking about Values, and why knowing what yours are and honoring them in your daily life is so critical to building a life of meaning and purpose. I'll also explain why Values are NOT what you think they are. If you’re not already on the list, sign up right here so you don't miss this one. It's a game changer.
TRAILS I’VE BEEN EXPLORING
Here are 5 trails I’ve been exploring recently:
READING: The Solace of Fierce Landscapes by Belden Lane. If you haven’t read Lane yet, you need to. I have no hesitation saying that he is one of the best writers and spiritual thinkers of this generation. I first discovered him in 2021, but have returned to his writings again and again, seeking not only solace, which he offers up in rich supply, but also insight, challenge, and an invitation to a deeper, more resonant kind of living symbiosis between the human heart and the Great Mystery we call God.
LISTENING: Iain McGilchrist is a much more recent discovery, and while he is quite different to Belden Lane, he has enchanted me just as deeply. In his recent lecture at Cambridge’s Darwin College Lecture Series, he made a compelling argument for how the abandonment of our generative right-brain capacities has created many if not all of the crises we now face as a species. And, in a follow up interview with the podcast Seen & Unseen, he made the argument that we need to “return to God” as it were, to actively re-cultivate spiritual beliefs and practices in our culture, in order to prevent Western society from complete collapse. Both the lecture and interview are worth the few hours they require to absorb. So rich! And just so you know our Iain is no lightweight … among his many accolades, McGilchrist is a Quondam Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, an Associate Fellow of Green Templeton College, Oxford, a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and former Consultant Psychiatrist and Clinical Director at the Bethlem Royal & Maudsley Hospital, London. He is the author of a number of books, but is best-known for The Master and his Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World (Yale 2009); and his book on neuroscience, epistemology and ontology, The Matter with Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions and the Unmaking of the World (Perspectiva 2021). So, yeah … not swimming in the kiddie pool, this one.
WATCHING: I first watched Terrence Malick’s “A Hidden Life” a few years ago, but came back to it recently as certain events unfolding in the world brought it back to mind. The film left a mark on me the first time I saw it. I couldn’t shake it for weeks … and I mean that in a good way. How does a good man live when the days turn evil? This second time was more sobering, I suppose because it felt so much more possible than it did on first watch. It is a terrific piece of art, beautifully made. Not a fast movie, but deep, and thoughtful, and quietly challenging in all the best ways.
SEEING: On one of my rabbit trails last week, I happened across these nine re-imaginings of the Empire State Building, and thought they were amazing.
PONDERING: “I believe that attention, the kind of attention we choose to pay, and indeed whether we attend at all, wholly alters what we discover in the world we come to know — which is of course all that any of us can know. Attention is, then, a creative (or destructive) act and therefore necessarily a moral act.” — Iain McGilchrist
PHOTOS I’VE TAKEN
YOUR TURN
What new trails have you been exploring lately that you would love other people to know about? Share them in the comments.
Until next time!
Michael
p.s. The Sojournist is an entirely reader-supported project I create on the go as I live on the road. Your support makes my writing possible and keeps it growing. Every time you hit “like,” it tells the algorithm to share the post more widely. Every time you share a post with someone, it spreads the word even more. Every new free subscription expands our growing tribe. Every new paid subscription keeps food on the table and fuel in Van Gogh. Whatever way you can help is hugely appreciated. Thank you.
