“This weekend felt more real than every other weekend before this, of this this year I would even say. I think everybody can agree that there’s a lot of confusion out in the world today and there’s a lot of things that you can attach to to learn from about what’s right and what’s wrong and where you should go and how you should spend your time. Um but nothing that feels as grounded as as this. mission statement of Meriwether, of culture and wilderness coming together.
Culture is something that seems to be falling apart really all over the world, but in America, too. It’s, you know, it’s what we know cause we live here. And the wilderness is obviously becoming less of an importance to people because it’s getting easier and easier to shut inside and to get in an echo chamber on a phone or in on your computer, however you ingest online. It’s becoming a bigger part of our lives and this is a way to not necessarily retaliate against that but to escape from that that pull into that world and return to what’s natural and real. And this was this weekend felt more real than every other weekend before this this year I would even say.
I mean I’m a person who I think is kind of driven to to seek out self-improvement wherever I can find it. But it can be sort of aimless without people without people who also want to learn and grow. And that was the thing that I thought was so strange about this is that it’s really rare to find somebody who actually wants to learn and not just learn about things by reading or or or studying through film or whatever. But also learn from other people. That’s a really hard thing to find is someone who actually wants to listen but then also wants to teach on top of that. And it was like every single person here was a listener and a teacher. And that combination is really profound when you get so many like-minded individuals like that in one place. And that’s what was accomplished here.
My name is Taylor Evers. I’m 31. I’m originally from Alabama but now I reside in Gallatin, Tennessee. I heard about Meriwether from a kind and intelligent gentleman named Warren Steury as I know him and it sounded like something that combines two of the most important parts of life, culture and wilderness. So kind of had to go.
I have a lot of connection to my grandfather. His last words were to seek fellowship. And so I’ve kind of tried to explore that and what that means to me consistently and not forget about it. And that’s consistently brought me into the presence of some really strong people, really wise people. And so I felt like that must have been what he meant. And so before I made the commitment to buy the ticket, to make plans, skip out on work, all that stuff, I was, I was on the fence for a while and then I had a dream when my grandfather came to me again and said that “I see you and I’m proud of you, but you still have a ways to go before you’re the man you need to be”. And that coincided so much with the the mission statement for Meriwether that that was to me just a clear a very clear omen. I needed to go. Saying I’m glad I did is an understatement.
It’s like a newfound determination to continue on a path that I’ve maybe been dragging my feet on for a time. Like I know generally what the path is. I don’t know where it goes, but I know it’s the right path. And a lot of people made me feel a lot more confident that you can keep moving, you can pick up the pace. Just more of this, just getting together in a good place like this, almost like a familial environment where everybody trusts each other, they respect each other, and we all really did want to learn. So, more of that. I would say the only thing I would want to make sure we don’t do is wait a year, two years, before we get one going again.
Really surreal at multiple points. I had to keep reminding myself that this is real.”
TAYLOR EVERS
Meriwether Spring ’25 Graduate
Watch Taylor’s Testimonial Video on Our YouTube Below!