26 Comments
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Michele Peters's avatar

Holy shit, this was a captivating read. I felt like I was on that hike with Hannah the whole way. It's my favorite Strange Pilgrims read so far.

And, I love this from the interview: "So my advice is to become a student of your envy and then respond accordingly. Submit boldly and take risks you might otherwise talk yourself out of. Then, try to stop measuring your progress against someone else’s pace. Stop looking sideways and return to yourself. The work only moves when you do."

There's so much good stuff in this, I am torn about what specifically to pull out and restack... (it is a good problem to have.)

Hannah Eve Levy's avatar

thank you for reading! 🤍🤍

Coley's avatar

"a geography of walls built to divide the land from itself, cement dripping into the deep" this line... beautiful.

Hannah Eve Levy's avatar

thank you so much!

Lachlan Colledge's avatar

Wow! Thankyou for sharing. I loved this imagery in particular:

‘The sky is surrounding. Not blue but ash—the color of pencil erased from a page with no answer.’

Jo Polley's avatar

This line in particular struck me also!

Hannah Eve Levy's avatar

thank you!!!

margi cates's avatar

I will reread this and cry a bit more, and then I’ll finally figure out what to say.

Thank you, and yes! And again thank you.

grayson's avatar

This is such a great read. Truly, took me right to where you are all the way from the other side of the world. I miss California. ‘Become a student of your envy’ I will carry this with me. Thank you.

Ethan Kreul's avatar

“The earth here is fighting no one.” Lyrical and embodied, with strong image-work

Areyah DCosta's avatar

Hannah, this is a brilliantly evocative piece! I felt like I was journeying with you throughout, not losing track at all, just fixating on every line. The way you interweaved your own life through your trail on Hill 88 is remarkable. Thank you for sharing this!! I'm going to restack this one and share it with my friends, too!! And, thanks for the cerebral advice at the end: to submit boldly [I'll engrave this one in my mind :)].

Susmitha's avatar

Wow! Gorgeous writing and hauntingly beautiful photos. The part that’ll stay with me most: “I collapse in this familiar place of endings and beginnings, an upward spiral. My legs are sore and heavy but I am light, like the space between atoms rearranging.”

Samantha Lazo's avatar

Wow, this piece is incredibly sticky. It will linger with me for quite sometime. I appreciate how Hannah juxtaposes her experience with her ancestral history and the stories that live in her body. Stunning.

Hannah Eve Levy's avatar

that means so much to me, thank you for reading!

Jason DiFilippo's avatar

This is amazing.

Maria Giesbrecht's avatar

This is absolute Gold! I’m so proud of you hannah! 💗

Hannah Eve Levy's avatar

thank you! I couldn't have written it without all the ongoing support & community in Gather 🥰

Coley's avatar

Hannah!!! I love this!!

Hannah Eve Levy's avatar

thank you, Coley!

Lisa Fransson's avatar

How beautiful. I was drawn in by the photos at diets, the desolateness of them, then I started reading and was instantly sucked in. It's a piece that manages to be both meandering and focused at the same time, and I can't work out how it was done. 🙏🏼🤓

Hannah Eve Levy's avatar

so grateful for your close read & thank you for the kind words!

Lisa Fransson's avatar

*at first*, not "diets" Stupid auto correct 🙄

Chris Bujold's avatar

My god this is incredible.

Hannah Eve Levy's avatar

thank you 🤍

Jo Polley's avatar

What an astonishingly rich essay, so full of poetic truth and thinking in flight. It's both dreamy and sharp, the way life is. I love when a piece of writing says something that feels deeply true yet impacts in this way because it says so in words you'd never imagined.

Hannah Eve Levy's avatar

gah thank you for the reflection, I appreciate it so much!