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\u201cWhen I'd gone off and got lost in the woods and I walked for hours and I just couldn't find my way back out of the woods, there was this moment when I stopped and just had this sense of the forest as like this complete system of life. Like I could suddenly hear this, this crackle that felt to me like I could hear the water being drawn up from the soil and I could hear the leaves dropping down, and I could just feel this like I was part of this body and it was a remarkable moment, and I've never let go of that. And I I think once you've heard it once, like you can hear it again, this sense of like the being part of this huge system that's way bigger and way more ancient than you are and, and the humility of that, like the lovely, the lovely humbling that, that, that entails, because, you know, humility, it means literally to be part of the soil, to be of the soil. And that is a\xa0grand feeling to chase, I think to integrate with that.\u201d\nKatherine joins me today to discuss her newest book, Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age. A much needed follow-up to her first book, Wintering, which provided so many with language that articulated the pain of the long, communal loneliness and dislocation resulting from the pandemic\u2014even though it was written well in advance\u2014Enchantment presses forward to provide readers with a guide to rediscovering the beauty in being alive. The adult world, Katherine notes, is a profoundly play-less place\u2014as we age, we turn away from our innate sense of wonder and awe in favor of grounded materialism that leaves us tired, anxious, and lonely. In our conversation, she encourages listeners to lean into our natural curiosity, engaging with what feels interesting and luminous in our immediate environment in order to re-sensitize ourselves to the subtle magic of living. We talk about sitting with our fascination instead of rushing to process it and the unique value of small moments in a world that prizes big experiences. For those of us searching for a different way of relating to the world, Enchantment is the balm we have been looking for.\xa0\n\xa0\nEPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:\n\nThe death of playfulness\u2026\n\nLonging and loneliness\u2026\n\nEverything and nothing, all at once\u2026\n\n\nMORE FROM KATHERINE MAY:\nEnchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age\nWintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times\nThe Electricity of Every Living Thing: A Woman's Walk in the Wild to Find Her Way Home\nExplore KATHERINE'S WEBSITE\nListen to her podcast, How We Live Now, on APPLE PODCASTS or SPOTIFY\nFollow her on INSTAGRAM\n \nTo learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy\n \n Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices