Wintering by Katherine May

We all have fallow periods of life, times when we must retreat to care for and repair ourselves.

Wintering is a poignant and comforting meditation on these fallow moments, showing us how to come through these times with the wisdom of knowing that, like the seasons, our winters and summers are the ebb and flow of life.

A moving memoir interwoven 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.

Whether you're reading this in the dead of winter or the height of summer, Wintering is the beautiful, moving, and life-changing memoir teaching us to draw from the healing powers of the natural world and to embrace the winters of our own lives.