Part I: The Cracking 〰️ ⧷ ⧄

Part I of The Earnestly Incomplete Non-Guide for the Disillusioned, the Lost and the Totally Bewildered

Apr 13, 2025

Hello my friend.

You’ve arrived at the first rock cairn, called The Cracking.

Rock Cairns. Small piles of stones and pebbles. Someone’s been here before. You are not alone. This terrain is navigable.

If you don’t know what I mean by rock cairn, you may have missed the introduction to the The Earnestly Incomplete Non-Guide for the Disillusioned, the Lost and the Totally Bewildered. Catch that here for context:

An Earnestly Incomplete Non-Guide for the Disillusioned, the Lost and the Totally Bewildered

Mar 29

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…otherwise, come join me here at The Cracking.

The Cracking 〰️ ⧷ ⧄

The storm breaks
First swells
A volcano stirs
Uranus in Aries

what might be happening?

People at The Cracking might later remember one moment, a single insight or realisation or understanding, that they will tell you was the crack.

Others will describe a slow, undulating dawning.

Others will say they always knew and therefore didn't have The Cracking as such, but they will stay and hang out by this cairn to see what we're all talking about, and maybe they will nod sagely form time to time, weary and wise.

But everyone here knows deeply that something, a lot of things, are very wrong. The world, as it looks now, has a deep rot that seeps through our structures, systems, ideas, beliefs.

This is the season where the default worldview starts to crack. For folks at The Cracking, there’s been a rupture between what they are supposed to believe and what we can now feel in their very being. They might not be able to name any of this yet, which will be soooo frustrating.

They have crossed a threshold of no return, although this too they do not yet realise.

This is what makes people at The Cracking different to those who just read about the latest political scandal or crime spree and shake their head while noisily slupring tea and remark out loud to no one in particular how the world has "gone to hell in a handbasket" or some other idiom that we all recognise but if we stop to thing about, is quite strange.

The English language is odd in many ways. Like, have you noticed the total falsehood of saying "the alarm goes off" but, really, the alarm goes..on...when it 'goes off'? Also, we say "meteoric rise" to describe a rapid ascent, such as in a career. But meteors fall. Rapidly

Anyway. Nearly got side-tracked then. The world has tilted for our people at The Cracking, and it won't go back. The actual CRACK from which this time gets its very name, the CRACK has compromised their foundation. The structure is going to fall. But not yet.

The Cracking can happen to anyone of any age, any religion, any political ideology, any race, any socio-economic status, cat person or dog person.

It can happen suddenly or gradually.

There may have been an entry point or a portal, a liminal time where they were porous. Fertile. Unknowingly ready.

Through illness. Or burnout. Or a breakup, redundancy, eviction, heartache, loss or rupture of any kind.

It might be a fresh realisation of political machinations.

It might be the outstretched arm of a homeless person at just a time of opening.

It might be spotting Coca-Cola flavoured Oreos and realising how f*cking bizarre this circus is

It might be seeing an image of an impossibly high and vast pile of plastic trash on a beach

It might be a question from your child that you realise you don't have a truthful answer for that isn't entirely devastating

It might be another spreadsheet

It might be a $8 cauliflower

It might be the local library closing

It might be seeing a falcon soar high across a pink sky while on a hiking trip and be gripped by an inexplicable longing so sharp it catches in your throat and you know, know so deeply, that we are all doing it wrong

There are so many examples I could put here. I suggest we keep moving but you might want to stop a second and consider your own possible portals. Do it.

No matter the person, the time, or the catalyst, The Cracking will likely be extraordinarily inconvenient.

People here might wish they could unsee what they have seen, because they just know it's going to change a bunch of stuff. How annoying.

But there's something else glowing in the periphery. They can't explain it yet. Something. They may not have said it this way before The Cracking, but now that it’s happening… there’s this weird sense of familiarity. Like it explains a feeling they’ve carried, dormant, their whole lives.

A soft wrongness. A quiet hum beneath everything. They thought it was them, of course. Their fault. Because they didn’t fit in. That they were doing something wrong. They didn't understand the rules of life that everyone else seemed to know and take in their stride.

But now… maybe the soft wrongness was a clue? Who knows. They don't know, yet. The journey is beginning.

recognising the signs in yourself or others:

People at The Cracking may be far quieter than normal.

But their mind is very busy.

Every so often it looks like they will say something. Their mouth—normally grimly clamped shut these days—flaps slightly open and a far-away sound might be heard. Something like “But...but......they told us….we were told…but…I thought….” but might as well be “bubbbbtbbub”.

Then they stalk off.

They blink a lot. They tilt their head slightly from time to time. Sometimes they might shake their head for what looks like no reason.

They are trying to tip out their growing understanding and knowledge from their head. What they are seeing is too big and far-reaching.

Their expression goes from confused to aghast to frowning to a look of being totally, utterly lost.

people here might need:

Space, time, quiet and discreet love. Sleep. Walks. Possibly some very loud music. Silence. Birdsong. Fresh air, alpine or coastal if possible. Seasonal fruits and veg. Exercise on their terms. A pet.

Don't cuddle them without asking. They are quite stiff right now and a cuddle won't be nice for either of you, like hugging a grandfather clock.

Let them off their social obligations. Offer cancellations and rescheduling for far-away dates.

Ask if they want company. Don’t assume they do and don't be offended if they don't. Make it easy for them to say no.

Leave cake in the mailbox.

Don’t ask them to explain themselves. They probably can’t and trying to will be frustrating for them.

Don't try and bypass this weird bit even if it makes you uncomfortable. It's not just a phase or "things will look better in the morning" or "cheer up" or "be grateful" or "stay positive". None of that.
Bleuuuuurrrrgh.

Ask them what they need, anticipate that they might not know, give them time to think about it and then ask again. And then give them that thing.

Let silence stretch.

pebbles at this cairn

Here are some pebbles, just from me right now, that might be helpful here, mostly because they are inspired by or even made from my time at The Cracking. But quite honestly, those at The Cracking might not need another thing to listen to, do or read. You can decide. I’ll leave them here for now.