Oct 26, 2026 · 1h 13m
Katherine May reframes rest as preparation for difficult seasons
How To Stay Sane, Rested, and Useful During Hard Times | Katherine May
The conversation offers a grounded alternative to toxic positivity: conserve energy, accept uncertainty, and keep acting without mistaking control for agency.
- 1Wintering treats grief, illness, exhaustion, and isolation as seasons requiring conservation rather than personal failure.
- 2Rest, beauty, ritual, and reading can restore the attention and energy needed for care and meaningful action.
- 3Managing news, accepting uncertainty, and rejecting performative wellness help preserve agency during social and political turmoil.
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May explains why rest during an emergency is not irresponsible: conserving energy can make sustained care and effective action possible.
The brief
Katherine May defines “wintering” as the natural process of moving through grief, illness, exhaustion, isolation, and other difficult seasons without treating them as failures.
Nature models conservation and patience, while social media and toxic positivity pressure people to hide hardship; May argues that honest listening is more useful than forced optimism.
The conversation separates agency from control: accepting uncertainty can clarify what remains possible, including care, service, and moral action during political upheaval.
May treats rest as a resource rather than a selfish retreat, drawing on caregiving, beauty, wonder, cold-water swimming, sauna, and rituals that restore attention without becoming wellness performances.
Her practical advice extends to insomnia and reading: stop treating wakefulness as a crisis, avoid screens, and use books or poetry as companionship rather than productivity.
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