Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age
by Katherine May
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Katherine May appears on Waterstones podcast via video call
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In this meditative, in-depth discussion on the Waterstones podcast, the author and the host commiserate about having lost their focus and ability to read difficult books during the pandemic. The author also discusses her Meniere's disease, going barefoot in public, “deep play” vs. “shallow play,” and seeing stories in pebbles. She says she found her way back to reading through poems, essays, and short stories.
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Author interview via video call with B&N’s Poured Over
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Saying that the book arose from a need to find a better way to cope with the times in which we live, the author discusses having lost the ability to feel wonder and enchantment over small things. She shares the concept of hierophany, or the spiritual manifesting itself in the physical world; for her, the peeling of an orange creates this sensation as it takes her back to her grandmother, with whom she lived as a child, peeling an orange every day after lunch.
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NPR chooses May’s “Enchantment” as Book of the Day
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Mar, 2023
Spoiler:
Chatting with NPR's Rachel Martin, the author recalls the meditative, wonder-filled play of her childhood, in which she immersed herself in activities like sitting on the ground and breaking rocks open with a hammer. She also discusses her spiritual life, saying “it's a very soothing thing to do to allow yourself to feel very tiny in a big universe.” She says that “the vulnerable core” of the book is approaching a definition of God, which she describes as a consciousness that is bigger than her own.
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Other books by Katherine May
Publications
The Guardian: How awe made my life worth living again
The New York Times: How to Feel Alive Again
National Public Radio: How to hold onto a sense of wonder
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