Revitalizing Our Attention—New Episode with Katherine May

“The smaller the call and response, the greater the magic. You must sink into yourself to feel it. The choice—the act of guiding your attention towards such a tiny thing—is the point.”

Dear Friends,

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. 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.”

In Enchantment, she asks—How do we worship now?—and expresses that we have to discover our own sense of the sacred. I was moved by her journey discovering hers, as she gave language to how I feel by the ocean.

“Worshipfulness is a feeling and a way that you apply your attention.

I grew up outside of any religion. But, I always felt it in me. I felt this aspect of myself that wanted to lay myself at the feet of the things that I found extraordinary; To deepen my relationship with them. To hear, listen, and absorb myself in them. To almost collapse in gratitude before them.

I never felt that from organized religion. But, I did feel it from beautiful sites in nature, big gatherings of people with good intent, or things that people have done that are extraordinarily generous or kind. There were so many things that felt bigger and better than me.”

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 a new way of being.

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

I’ll leave you with the invitation she closes Enchantment with: “Put your feet on the ground, every now and then, and feel the tingle of life that the Earth offers in return. It’s all there, waiting for our attention. Take off your shoes, because you are always on holy ground.”

With love,

Jenna