Welcome to Where Insight Meets Earth!
You already know the Earth is more than a resource to use up. Where Insight Meets Earth is where you practice living like it is true, through contemplative walking, ecospirituality, and kinship with the living world.
What You Will Find Here
Contemplative walking practices for you, whether you have just a few minutes or plenty of unhurried time.
Ecospirituality rooted in relationship and kinship rather than guilt or despair.
Seasonal wisdom from the Celtic wheel of the year.
Pilgrimage reflections from over 500 miles on France’s ancient Le Puy Camino de Santiago route.
Permission to slow down, grieve what is fading, and trust what is awakening.
What you may be missing, even if you already know all of this matters, is the felt experience of belonging to the Earth, the kind that comes through walking, attention, and time. That is what we practice here.
You will not find productivity hacks disguised as spirituality, climate doom without practice, or generic mindfulness advice.
Is This For You?
My readers tend to be people who feel the losses of the natural world more than those around them, and who want a quiet place to be in relationship with the Earth rather than only worried about her.
Some are burned-out professionals looking for grounded presence. Some are spiritual seekers exploring contemplative practice outside traditional frameworks. Some are nature-oriented intellectuals reconnecting with embodied wisdom. Many are simply people who suspect that a direct connection with the Earth might help more than another app or article.
A few times a week, these reflections arrive in your inbox: practices you can use, questions worth sitting with, and permission to slow down. This is contemplative depth for people who need silence to connect.
Why I Started This
I walked my first Camino de Santiago pilgrimage as a bucket-list item, expecting answers to the challenges of modern life. I found questions instead, and a practice that changed how I move through the world.
After five pilgrimages on France’s ancient Le Puy route, I realized that what I was learning did not belong only to me. The Earth is struggling. People are overwhelmed. The old ways of connecting, through silence, through walking, through kinship with the more-than-human world, are needed now more than ever. All of this is within reach.
Where Insight Meets Earth is how I share what I am learning, often only a week ahead of you. We walk along this path together.
About Me
I am Jeffrey Keefer, an ordained Wild Guide, a Chaplain at New York University, and a Professor of research methodology with a PhD in Educational Research.
I have walked the Camino de Santiago five times, mostly along the ancient Le Puy route through rural France. That walking shapes most of what I write here.
At Cherry Hill Seminary, I developed and now teach the Rewilding the Soul Ecospirituality Certificate, a year-long journey into Earth kinship through contemplative practice. In September 2026, I am also leading a Contemplative Walking Retreat on the Le Puy Camino. Four participants. Private rooms. Silence as practice rather than punishment.
Start Here
New to Where Insight Meets Earth? These writings will give you a sense of what we explore together:
Why Subscribe?
All of my posts arrive directly in your inbox, ad-free and algorithm-free, each week.
You will join our community of people who ask similar questions, wrestle with complexity, and deepen into Earth kinship together. We are fellow seekers on this path.
Free Subscribers receive every post I publish, full archive access, and the ability to comment.
Paid Annual Subscribers receive every post I publish, full archive access, and the ability to comment. They also receive Pack Light, Walk Present: The Contemplative Camino Packing Guide, along with an invitation to meet for a free Camino Packing & Planning Audit meeting. Finally, they have my gratitude for all their support in keeping my writing open and accessible to all.
Hit reply to any email. I read and respond to every message.
