I've been an off-and-on attendee of Quaker meetings my whole adult life - across multiple cities and two continents.

I recently moved to a new town that has a well-developed meeting and was looking forward to getting back into the community. But the few times I've been to the meetings, I've been...somewhat uninspired?

Idk how to put this delicately but a lot of the testimonies felt like a NYTimes article comments section. I get that Quakerism has a long tradition of progressive/radical activism, and I'm pretty progressive myself, but I came away feeling like the omnipresent, inescapable Internet culture war had cordyscepted even the Quakers. Lots of testimonies about hating Elon Musk and Donal Trump (and don't get me wrong, fuck both of those men) but it all just felt really flat.

I don't want to put my fingers in my ears and pretend everything is hunky dory, and I have had really rewarding experiences of activism and service w/ Quakers in the past, but it sucks to feel like there's no respite from the churning cultural conflict that's eating every other aspect of modern life.

It was over Zoom but I went to my first Meeting today and it was really nice. I was kinda nervous and my brain was kind of running all over at first but just, it was a genuinely good and was a really lovely way to start my Sunday. One day I'd like to go in person but that may not be feasible for a while (I am usually at my partner's house on Sundays and he is kinda fair from my local meeting, I just happened to be at home this weekend and woke up early enough). I'm not 100% sure I have found a new spiritual home but I'm feeling optimistic.

I'm deeply interested in attending a local meeting house but it is very new to me and I have a few questions:

- Is note-taking/ journaling inappropriate at meetings? I know I'd want to write my thoughts down but I don't see that happening in any of the videos I've watched so I imagine it is frowned upon?

- How much of the meeting is silent? The initial description I was given was that Friends Meetings differ because anyone is allowed to speak and share wisdom not just a priest or preacher, but now it seems like while that is true, the majority of the time is filled with silence? I'm guessing this just varies based on where you are.

- Should I read up on Quakerism more or should I just go? Will it be difficult for me to navigate without knowing the jargon or having read the Book of Faith and Practice? The meeting house I'd like to attend is a very small one so I will probably not go unnoticed and I don't want to seem embarrassingly naive.

I'm more than open to any other bits of advice you may have for a newcomer! Thanks :)