Wintering

Description

Wintering
by Katherine May

ISBN: 9780593189481
Hardcover, new
Publication Date: 11/10/2020

Brief Description:
THE RUNAWAY NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Katherine May opens up exactly what
I and so many need to hear but haven’t known how to name.” —Krista Tippett,
On Being “Every bit as beautiful and healing as the season itself. . . .
This is truly a beautiful book.” —Elizabeth Gilbert “Proves that there is
grace in letting go, stepping back and giving yourself time to repair in
the dark…May is a clear-eyed observer and her language is steady, honest
and accurate—capturing the sense, the beauty and the latent power of our
resting landscapes.” —Wall Street Journal From the author of the New York
Times bestseller Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age, this is
an intimate, revelatory exploration of the ways we can care for and repair
ourselves when life knocks us down. Sometimes you slip through the cracks:
unforeseen circumstances like an abrupt illness, the death of a loved one,
a break up, or a job loss can derail a life. These periods of dislocation
can be lonely and unexpected. For May, her husband fell ill, her son
stopped attending school, and her own medical issues led her to leave a
demanding job. Wintering explores how she not only endured this painful
time, but embraced the singular opportunities it offered. A moving personal
narrative shot through with lessons from literature, mythology, and the
natural world, May’s story offers instruction on the transformative power
of rest and retreat. Illumination emerges from many sources: solstice
celebrations and dormice hibernation, C.S. Lewis and Sylvia Plath, swimming
in icy waters and sailing arctic seas. Ultimately Wintering invites us to
change how we relate to our own fallow times. May models an active
acceptance of sadness and finds nourishment in deep retreat, joy in the
hushed beauty of winter, and encouragement in understanding life as
cyclical, not linear. A secular mystic, May forms a guiding philosophy for
transforming the hardships that arise before the ushering in of a new
season.