Wintering

Wintering by Katherine May

Read February 2021 - Well Read Book Club

I really loved the whole premise of this book - that 'wintering' is a thing that people go through, whether it be seasonal, or otherwise.  We all have periods of wintering in our lives, regardless of the 'weather'.  The author gives history, her own experiences, and advice about how to go through these tough periods.  She points out that animals do wintering much better than we do.  They prepare beforehand and then accept that there are times of hibernation and inactivity.  We tend to try to power through difficult circumstances and not allow ourselves the time we may need to slow down, accept, and heal.  One example the author shared was particularly helpful to my dear Mama.  The author talked about a practice in far northern climates where people get up in the middle of the night and are purposefully productive.  They may rise at 2:00 am and do an hour or two of work, or reading, or even visiting with neighbors (!).  Instead of laying in bed worrying that you aren't sleeping, they recognize that the body rhythms sometimes call for periods of wakefulness in the middle of the longest, darkest nights.  My own Mama had struggled with this issue and after I told her about the book, she let me know that she had started simply getting out of bed, drinking a warm glass of milk, and enjoying looking out the window with no concern for 'lost sleep'.  In the end, she was able to easily go back to bed and get as much if not more sleep than she would have by 'fighting' through the process.  I know that I experienced a true 'winter' not long after reading this book when my Mama died.  I have thought of various parts of this book often since reading it - and may need to pick it up again this year.  

Here are some favorite quotes from the book...

Wintering is a season in the cold.  It is a fallow period in life when you're cut off from the world, feeling rejected, sidelined, blocked from progress, or cast into the role of an outsider. 

We may never choose to winter, but we can choose how. 

Some winters creep up on us so slowly that they have infiltrated every part of our lives before we truly feel them. 

That is wintering... the active acceptance of sadness.  

We flourish on caring - on doling out love.  The most helpless members of our families and communities are what stick us together.  It's how we thrive.  Our winters are social glue. 

Meet the author, Katherine May, of Wintering