A review by emilykathleenwrites
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May

3.0

I wanted something from this book and in many ways I got it. I like the idea of "wintering," allowing yourself to feel pain, confusion, uncertainty, and to care for yourself with rest and retreat rather than push on through. The chapters where she talks to people who have been through personal winters of their own with illness, mental and physical really resonated with me. The parts where she tries to stay in the sauna remind me of Liz Gilbert in Eat Pray Love trying to meditate in India. I like how she describes grief as "a yearning for that one last moment of contact that would settle everything." or in my case change everything.

But some chapters felt flat like the parts about wolves and singing, and she seemed a little judgy of the Pagans and hippies. I was left wondering where we were going with all this? I wonder if the book would have been more powerful if it were shorter?

Overall, I enjoyed this book and I know I will be thinking about it for a long time.