Revitalizing Our Attention with Katherine May

Before my interview with Katherine May, a Mary Oliver quote resurfaced that felt representative of Katherine’s work: “This is the first, wildest, and wisest thing I know, that the soul exists, and that it is built entirely out of attentiveness.” 

Katherine’s books, most recently Wintering and Enchantment, are testaments that the quality of our attention transforms the quality of our lives. 

“I firmly believe that the depth of attention we crave can only happen if we let ourselves slow down," she says. "Most of the time, we are speeding so far past everything that we don't have a chance to engage with it. When we can change pace and make space in our lives for more things to come in, then there's a handshake we can make with the world around us. We can go up to it slowly, meet, and observe it with all of our senses.” 

This is Enchantment, as she describes it—“the ability to sense magic in the every day, to channel it through our minds and bodies, to be sustained by it.” At its heart, it's an invitation for a new way of being. 

Katherine guides us to shift from living on autopilot to discovering the aliveness of each moment. Here, we discuss reconnecting with the intelligence of the body, the power of unlearning, and what the forest teaches us about prayer. 

Photographer credit: Alexa Loy Dent