This made my day. There is something so lovely about eating dinner earlier, as we do this time of year, and getting into pajamas right afterward. I am in bed before 10 most nights with a book. BLISS. Like your night watches, I miss this in the summer. All hail the Winter retreat! 💙💙💙
Nov 25, 2023·edited Nov 25, 2023Liked by Katherine May
The five ideas will help me with WinterTide in Wyoming, USA. In fact, yesterday we had the most snow fall in a single day in 25 years, about two feet. Reading these five ideas offered both affirmation and companion permission for next steps on a project launched as I was learning to walk with and out of osteoarthritic pain (hip join implants), realizing how movement habits and conditioning in my body contributed to wear and tear on the original valiant joints. Undoing a wide range of conditioning will be well served by embracing the content of the five ideas. Will keep you posted on the next awakening.
In a little over three weeks, having tracked WinterTide changes offered in this this reflection, here are thoughts/actions for "Abandon Clock Time," which have served:
Clock Time, a source of obligations of value or societal structures for expectation, predictability, or production, can be abandoned via a selective blend of how time is measured outside of minutes
~~track the sun’s travel in the southern sky for optimal engagement with light in the day, whether in shelter or outdoors
~~task inner fulfillment for body, clothing, spirit, work, home or other realms; physical therapy or movement; idle mindedness or mind quieting; partner with not dictated by technologies; ~~recognize how forms of order, tidy to piles, serves peace of mind or convenience
~~add more time to a task to increase fulfillment or adjust for its completion without reproach
~~move or delete a task since not achieving is an assessment of process or value
~~consider every change practice in WinterTide has value to every other season
This has helped me specifically in the start of a third year of retirement, first year in four without extreme mobility pain, which allow reflection in meditation, listening, and renewal of writing, expanding ability to walk, cycle, and movement practice. This life experience has further revealed to me the internal wiring of socialized conditioning.
Keeping in mind the impact of clock time contributed quiet and reflective quality in a project for changes in sustainable physical movement and not reinforcing exclusionary qualities of White Middle Class (USA resident) standards, rather deepened and expanded regard in reframing race and class.
I love the coziness inducing of this piece Katherine- I’ve given myself a ‘day off’ today I’ve enjoyed a walk in what felt like increasingly wintery sun this morning, I’ve just eaten a bowl of soup and I’m now eyeing up a nap, heaven!
Also, huge thanks for being up for supporting Shelter, it means so much to those in housing need (and to me!)
I loved this piece...and long for the cool coziness. I am in late spring in wild and windy Bay of Plenty, NZ. I really do not enjoy this season..very bad hayfever and too warm. So at present am trying to find creative ways to work with my aversion!!
Kia ora Kate, I’m based in Kāpiti, NZ and also love all the talk of cosiness and bedding down for Winter. But we are rapidly approaching another Summer Christmas which is so alien to me as I’m from London. Avoiding UV exposure is my main goal in life currently; it’s not easy being a redhead in New Zealand! I hope your hayfever passes soon.
I loved this piece, Katherine. Even though I live much of the year in a relatively mild winter climate, we spend January and February in Quebec, where we enjoy the cosiness of the wood-burning stove in our cottage and getting under a big puffy comforter at night (not to mention the bright days of cross-country skiing on great snow!)
Your timing for this writing is perfect and what my soul needed to hear today, Katherine. Thank you.
I am in the final days with my sweet 16-year-old Lhasa/Maltese, Linus, who has been by my side since the day we picked him up. We began our lives together with him wrapped in his blankey and sleeping on my desk at a local shelter for the unhoused. His body has become a burden to his sweet soul and on Wednesday I will hold him close while he transitions to the peaceful hereafter.
I’ve been spending every moment possible huddled up in my bedroom with him (the only place his aging mind feels safe anymore). It’s been more painful than I ever imagined to make this decision to end his suffering, and yet I sense him telling me it is the right thing to do now.
And so, I will continue my hibernating and cuddling this little one who has been with me through more trials than I can count; who cuddled me and slept on my lap while I ugly-cried into a cloth, and who brought incredible laughter and joy to our home, our family, and countless people overcoming some of the most painful trauma I’ve listened to.
Like many of you, I am also looking forward to a season of slowing down, of cozy reading, writing, and of cleaning and organizing in preparation for the spring ahead.
So, Katherine, I read your post with great interest today about buying clothing. In my day, and I’m 73 now, I was quite the clothes horse, so I love shopping for clothing. However, I’ve learned a thing or two since I’m a bit older now. So number one is when I see something that I think I might like, I pull it off the rack. I usually make several selections. When I go into the fitting room, I absolutely turn my back to the mirror and try something on. And the first thing I ask myself is, is this comfortable? And if it’s not, it goes back on the hanger and I don’t even consider it . So, maybe since you are not enthusiastic about buying new clothes, take a friend, make it a day out, have a lark, pull some things off the rack. If you go to a shop where there’s a an attendant, they may be able to help you, maybe select some things for you. But it has to be comfortable first and if it’s comfortable, you turn around and face the mirror and then if you’d like the way, it looks, that’s the outfit right there. Good luck. 🥰
This made my day. There is something so lovely about eating dinner earlier, as we do this time of year, and getting into pajamas right afterward. I am in bed before 10 most nights with a book. BLISS. Like your night watches, I miss this in the summer. All hail the Winter retreat! 💙💙💙
I’m in bed by 10 all year round to be fair 😴
Living the dream!
And I'm normally tucked up by 9 pm all year round, due to health condition. I feel less like I'm missing out in winter though!
9pm is the best bedtime anyway!
The five ideas will help me with WinterTide in Wyoming, USA. In fact, yesterday we had the most snow fall in a single day in 25 years, about two feet. Reading these five ideas offered both affirmation and companion permission for next steps on a project launched as I was learning to walk with and out of osteoarthritic pain (hip join implants), realizing how movement habits and conditioning in my body contributed to wear and tear on the original valiant joints. Undoing a wide range of conditioning will be well served by embracing the content of the five ideas. Will keep you posted on the next awakening.
In a little over three weeks, having tracked WinterTide changes offered in this this reflection, here are thoughts/actions for "Abandon Clock Time," which have served:
Clock Time, a source of obligations of value or societal structures for expectation, predictability, or production, can be abandoned via a selective blend of how time is measured outside of minutes
~~track the sun’s travel in the southern sky for optimal engagement with light in the day, whether in shelter or outdoors
~~task inner fulfillment for body, clothing, spirit, work, home or other realms; physical therapy or movement; idle mindedness or mind quieting; partner with not dictated by technologies; ~~recognize how forms of order, tidy to piles, serves peace of mind or convenience
~~add more time to a task to increase fulfillment or adjust for its completion without reproach
~~move or delete a task since not achieving is an assessment of process or value
~~consider every change practice in WinterTide has value to every other season
This has helped me specifically in the start of a third year of retirement, first year in four without extreme mobility pain, which allow reflection in meditation, listening, and renewal of writing, expanding ability to walk, cycle, and movement practice. This life experience has further revealed to me the internal wiring of socialized conditioning.
Keeping in mind the impact of clock time contributed quiet and reflective quality in a project for changes in sustainable physical movement and not reinforcing exclusionary qualities of White Middle Class (USA resident) standards, rather deepened and expanded regard in reframing race and class.
I love the coziness inducing of this piece Katherine- I’ve given myself a ‘day off’ today I’ve enjoyed a walk in what felt like increasingly wintery sun this morning, I’ve just eaten a bowl of soup and I’m now eyeing up a nap, heaven!
Also, huge thanks for being up for supporting Shelter, it means so much to those in housing need (and to me!)
I’m craving a nap today! Fridays are hard.
I loved this piece...and long for the cool coziness. I am in late spring in wild and windy Bay of Plenty, NZ. I really do not enjoy this season..very bad hayfever and too warm. So at present am trying to find creative ways to work with my aversion!!
Kia ora Kate, I’m based in Kāpiti, NZ and also love all the talk of cosiness and bedding down for Winter. But we are rapidly approaching another Summer Christmas which is so alien to me as I’m from London. Avoiding UV exposure is my main goal in life currently; it’s not easy being a redhead in New Zealand! I hope your hayfever passes soon.
I loved this piece, Katherine. Even though I live much of the year in a relatively mild winter climate, we spend January and February in Quebec, where we enjoy the cosiness of the wood-burning stove in our cottage and getting under a big puffy comforter at night (not to mention the bright days of cross-country skiing on great snow!)
Your timing for this writing is perfect and what my soul needed to hear today, Katherine. Thank you.
I am in the final days with my sweet 16-year-old Lhasa/Maltese, Linus, who has been by my side since the day we picked him up. We began our lives together with him wrapped in his blankey and sleeping on my desk at a local shelter for the unhoused. His body has become a burden to his sweet soul and on Wednesday I will hold him close while he transitions to the peaceful hereafter.
I’ve been spending every moment possible huddled up in my bedroom with him (the only place his aging mind feels safe anymore). It’s been more painful than I ever imagined to make this decision to end his suffering, and yet I sense him telling me it is the right thing to do now.
And so, I will continue my hibernating and cuddling this little one who has been with me through more trials than I can count; who cuddled me and slept on my lap while I ugly-cried into a cloth, and who brought incredible laughter and joy to our home, our family, and countless people overcoming some of the most painful trauma I’ve listened to.
Like many of you, I am also looking forward to a season of slowing down, of cozy reading, writing, and of cleaning and organizing in preparation for the spring ahead.
What a gift to get to read this while lazing on my couch, inhaling the pumpkin pie baking in the oven!
Thank goodness for you, Katherine May ❤️
So, Katherine, I read your post with great interest today about buying clothing. In my day, and I’m 73 now, I was quite the clothes horse, so I love shopping for clothing. However, I’ve learned a thing or two since I’m a bit older now. So number one is when I see something that I think I might like, I pull it off the rack. I usually make several selections. When I go into the fitting room, I absolutely turn my back to the mirror and try something on. And the first thing I ask myself is, is this comfortable? And if it’s not, it goes back on the hanger and I don’t even consider it . So, maybe since you are not enthusiastic about buying new clothes, take a friend, make it a day out, have a lark, pull some things off the rack. If you go to a shop where there’s a an attendant, they may be able to help you, maybe select some things for you. But it has to be comfortable first and if it’s comfortable, you turn around and face the mirror and then if you’d like the way, it looks, that’s the outfit right there. Good luck. 🥰
Excellent first Zoom convo with Samantha Irby. You got this Katherine! Sorry it costs so much. I will buy more of your books.