Wintering by Katherine May (audiobook)

genre: memoir

Katherine May's slow and deliberate look at our body's need for seasonal rest and recovery is at the heart of this memoir.  I loved how she looked at "winter" as not just a time of the year, but a space we find ourselves in when we have to retreat inside, to replenish ourselves and let go of some of the things that feel too painful or heavy.  A wintering season may be the result of illness, of grief, of the sort of mental toll and anguish that living at a hundred miles per hour can result in.  

I liked her musing on winter itself, how we can manage it well, how animals and native peoples have adapted to it and how important this slow part of the cycle can be.  Her writing style is lovely and peaceful - and even if I wasn't always sure how the treads tied together, I liked the threads themselves, a lot.  

The only reason I'm not giving it five stars is that sometimes I felt a little bit like her privilege made her a little bit hard to relate to - I'd love to fly to Finland to see the Northern Lights and revel in that winter wonderland or stop working and stay safe at home when things get super hard - but for a lot of people this just isn't a choice.  It didn't spoil the book for me, just sometimes made me have a harder time falling all the way under her spell.

This really is a worthwhile listen, though.  At the end I had to rewind and listen to some parts twice, they spoke that deeply to a need I'm only learning to recognize in myself - a need to listen to my body when my feelings are heavy or when it is truly tired and needs rest.  I hope that the things I've thought about during listening to this book will help me navigate my next unexpected "wintering" with a little bit more compassion for myself or for anyone else I see in that space.