Retreat: Wintering by Katherine May

Katherine May’s book Wintering discusses the wisdom of finding light in the dusky, dark, shivery times of our lives.

Everyone has times when they can’t help wanting to pull back from life, snuggle in, take stock and perhaps wail to oneself that the sky is falling. In the 2020 book, Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, British author Katherine May associates such seasons of life with the meteorological season of cold and snow. She notes our cultural taboo of acknowledging down times, a don’t perhaps stronger now than ever when social media norms recommend an upbeat persona of constant achievement and optimism.