Wild Ideas

What if I was meant to be there when Daddy died?

Let’s explore death, faith and that fateful morning when everything changed, in the cathedral without a roof. In this very personal episode you’ll discover: the mysterious circumstances leading to the morning I lost my dad the cathedral without a roof and the soul imprints within it what it took to find my own way to the divine The full text and images can be found here: https://open.substack.com/pub/jjvandevyver/p/what-if-i-was-meant-to-be-there-when? (00:00) - Introduction (02:57) - The cathedral without a roof (12:51) - Three buck on a hill (21:10) - Lamb in a field (25:41) - The crypt (41:49) - The shell and the sunset (53:39) - A song and a prayer (59:34) - On the next episode (01:00:08) - Acknowledgements A huge thank you to: Jayni for the gift of the cathedral without a roof, the generous feedback on early drafts and for your beautiful mandala artwork included in the print version of this piece Phillip-Jan van Zyl for his beautiful piano collection “Spiral” Leigh and Lesanne for encouraging, supporting and shaping this work Louise for guiding my way to inspired creativity My partner Ash for your patience and support throughout this project The many wonderful humans who inspired these words through our conversations. I'll see you in the wilderness.

• Chapters

What if I can’t find meaning in corporate?

Let’s look across a career to ask whether meaningless work is a personal problem or a feature of the economy. In this episode you’ll find out: why I quit my job and walked away from everything what each step up the career ladder actually revealed the unnerving answer keeping our current world in place The full text, images and references can be found here: https://substack.jjvandevyver.earth/p/what-if-i-cant-find-meaning-in-corporate? (00:00) - Introduction (02:40) - Journey's end (07:35) - Piece 1: What I chose to study (11:26) - Piece 2: How I spent my working hours (16:53) - Piece 3: Which jobs are deemed valuable (20:48) - Quick recap (21:39) - Piece 4: How success is measured (27:04) - Piece 5: What organisations prioritise (35:46) - Piece 6: Where money is invested (41:15) - Piece 7: My return on investment (46:53) - Putting the pieces together (50:56) - A seed of hope (54:38) - On the next episode (55:10) - Acknowledgements A huge thank you to: Barbara Okhrati for her skilled hand in creating the visuals for the print version of this piece Ben and Hunter for the generous feedback on early drafts Dan Perez for his audio recordings of gaita music along the Camino de Santiago Phillip-Jan van Zyl for his beautiful piano collection “Spiral” Leigh and Lesanne for encouraging, supporting and shaping this work Louise for guiding my way to inspired creativity My partner Ash for your patience and support throughout this project The many wonderful humans who inspired these words through our conversations I'll see you in the wilderness.

• Chapters

Into the wilderness

Welcome to the wilderness. After fifteen years climbing the success ladder, JJ decided to walk away. He began to write to make sense of it all - the meaningless work, losing a parent, intergenerational trauma, psychedelics, coming home. This is where the journey begins. Wild Ideas launches 26 August 2026 with a five-part series. Follow now to walk into the wilderness together.