No Shortcuts to Now: A mythic journey through memory, meaning, and resistance.
No Shortcuts to Now is a serialized book that begins on a trail in Lassen Volcanic National Park, on a crisp fall morning in 2019 — as the first impeachment of Donald Trump murmurs across the radio.
From that trailhead, we climb not just into the high country, but through layers of language, myth, history, and philosophy — toward a question that shadows our times:
Have we truly left the old gods behind? Or have we simply renamed them?
This project is an inquiry and an invitation. A story about family, memory, and volcanic fault lines — both geological and cultural. It’s a meditation on the myths we carry and the truths we bury. And it’s an effort to understand how Stoic and mythic traditions might still speak to the disorientation of the now.
New chapters are released in short, serialized pieces — called Waypoints — published here and on Substack. Each one is meant to be read on its own, yet together they trace a path into the heart of something deeper.
🧭 Ready to begin the journey?
Would you like to support the project? Even small donations help — just click below!
Looking up from the floor of Cinder Cone toward Lassen Peak. The small figure is my son — Vulcan’s Evangelist, bearer of fire and the terror of questions.
🔥 What Readers Are Saying 🔥
“Exquisitely written 🤌🏾” — @danimc.bsky.social
“Well said. You thudded, HARD.” — @serena-spencer-esq.bsky.social
“Excellent article. The insight into the weird mythology of MAGA is really intriguing.” — @erflynncomics.com
“One of the few good things Covid brought us.” — @catherinesnook.bsky.social
“Great Substack article!” — @liveadivinelife.bsky.social
No Shortcuts to Now 