Family is the foundation of my life!
Hi there, my name is Silouan Green. I am married to Thecla, and we have nine children. Yes, you read that right—nine! Our oldest is 24, and our youngest is seven. Our first date was a road trip to Graceland, followed by a fairly epic three-and-a-half-month motorcycle/camping journey across the American West. The rest, you might say, is history!
We began our life together in one of the world’s great cities, San Francisco, where I was publishing an outdoors magazine. Then, fate brought us back home to Indiana. We now live in a large stone house in the woods next to a winding creek, accessed by a long driveway with a bridge. It’s a fitting location for our tribe. My wife homeschools our children and does her best to corral the happy madness while I travel across the country helping all sorts of people—first responders, veterans, addicts, the unhappy and hollow, the depressed, you name it—learn to rebuild with meaning and purpose.
No matter how tough you are, anyone can be broken.
Why is that? Well, after a tragic jet crash when I was in the Marines, I found myself hopeless with a gun to my head. An entire life was ahead of me, yet all I could see was what I had lost, pain, and despair. Desperate, I took off into the night on a motorcycle trip that ended up being 23 months and over 20,000 miles long. I wasn’t alone; there was an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. The devil coaxed me, “Ride until you find a really cool place to get off the road and put a bullet in your head.” The angel countered with, “Keep riding until you find a reason to live.”
Thankfully, I found my “reason to live,” and the journey has continued. Wherever you are at, welcome to this journey. Maybe I will see you on the road someday at one of my workshops or conference keynotes. In the meantime, check out my videos here and on YouTube. Listening to my better angel has allowed me the opportunity to help thousands of people across the country, from military bases traumatized with PTSD and suicide to small towns overwhelmed with heroin addiction. I’ve heard the tears of police officers facing the trials of their service alone, mothers struggling to raise their kids in a culture of loneliness and consumption, and people of all ages and races struggling to find their identity in an age of technological numbness.
I want you to live free, with happiness and deep meaning.
Inspired by this journey, I created The Ladder UPP life skills program based on my own recovery, and it has helped give people around the world hope and a plan to truly make the most of life’s trials and transitions. I also speak and teach on leadership, peer support, PTSD and mental health, and veterans and officers in crisis.
I have taught around the country for organizations such as the New York Police Department, National Park Service, Department of Homeland Security, National Association of Hostage Negotiators, California Highway Patrol, Broward County Sheriff’s Office, Chicago Police Department, Bureau of Land Management, Walter Reed Medical Center, Fort Bragg, the University of California, the University of Wisconsin, Indiana University, Purdue University, Fort Campbell, Camp Lejeune, the American Red Cross, the Marine Corps League, Mental Health America, the National Association of Mental Illness, the Veterans Administration, the National Guard, hundreds of police and sheriff’s departments, countless conventions, and many other mental health and community organizations across the country.
For more on hope and overcoming the adversities of life, you might check out the following works by Silouan: Sycamore Hill, Who Am I, and The Ladder UPP.
“Silouan Green’s journey of overcoming incredible personal trauma to find passion and purpose in life is both inspirational and timely. I look forward to helping spread the word and reach those who need to hear his message.”
Sheron Bellio, Producer, Bill Handel Show, Clear Channel Media + Entertainment
Jim
Hi Siloaun,
Heard you on Handel this am and want to say congrats for finding your passion and turning your life around. I am currently in my own black hole of despair and am encouraged by your story that there might be hope for me.
I have lost my career, my health, and shortly my house ( which I am trying to sell before it forecloses). As a result of this and childhood abuse I believe I have symptoms that are similar to PSTD. A dark depression has set in that is almost debilitating. I think my biggest problem is I haven’t nailed down my mission in life as you have done.
If my house closes without incident I will have some money that I can use to re- group. Although I am not into motorcycles I need to find a way to make the same spiritual journey that you did when you took off across the country.
Thank you for being an inspiration
Jim
Silouan
Jim, I’m so greatful you were able to listen this morning. Please keep in touch and let me know if there is anything I can do to help. I know you will find your path and it will be an amazing journey! Silouan
E. Karnes
Dear Jim, I am hoping some will be praying for you (myself included) and I am sure Silouan will bring your name up to God also. When you are alone one evening (soon), pray and ask God to make Himself real to you. If you have a Bible, read the Gospel of John; also tell the Lord you would like to receive Him as your Savior and you would like to receive The Spirit. See what happens; I am sure if your heart is sincere, HE will come to you as He has to so many of us and has turned our lives around and given us a great hope. I am sure the Spririt of God is hovering over you right now and is waiting to hear from you. “Whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord, shall be saved.” Receive Him as your Lord and Savior and He will give you LIfe Eternal and save you to the uttermost. He will be in your heart and operate from within in your life. Take care and may God bless you!
Lew Weiss
Thank you very much for your presentation 11/21/13 at Valle Viste Hospital in Greenwood, In.
Silouan
Thanks so much Lew, it was my pleasure!
steven doran
Silouan, we met you at the conference, held at Willow Creek Church , last spring/ late winter 0f 2013. There was never any follow up by WC Church, to continue your program. I am a in a bikers veterans organization, we helped a lady in the Pacific NW, called North West Battle Buddies, who trains dogs to be placed with veterans diagnosed with PTSD. She stated to me when talking with her over the phone, that there was a vet in Rhode Island, and she wants to get a dog as a companion for him. The problem is, she doesn’t think he can wait the process, and he has a real potential for being a suicide statistic, would you would be willing to talk to this vet ? Thanks again, keep up the good work. Have a Blessed Christmas and our sincerest wishes for you and your family. regards steven
Silouan
Steven, he can contact me anytime. Sorry Willow didn’t connect with you. We’ve actually been running some Ladder UPP classes since then, and have a new round coming up in the new year. Would love to see ya’ there. Thanks, Silouan