The Clearing with Katherine May

Prolific author of nine books and writer behind the Substack phenomenon The Hyphen, Emma Gannon takes us away for a whole year to her imaginary retreat in Palm Springs, where she plans to indulge almost solely in her number one favourite pastime  - reading.Revealing the extent to which she craves alone time, she tells Katherine about her very real experience of burnout, how she went from someone who lived to work to appreciating downtime and why she relates to The Hermit in Tarot. An inspiring listen that challenges our ideas of ‘the right way’ to live and embraces the concept of letting go. Links in the show: Emma’s Substack The HyphenEmma’s websiteEmma’s Instagram A link to buy her books including A Year of NothingFind Emma’s conversation with Elizabeth Gilbert about memoir here Max Richter’s track On the Nature of Daylight Visit The Clearing website www.theclearingpod.com for a full transcript and to discover how to enjoy the episodes ad freeBuy Katherine’s books: Enchantment | Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing: UK / USFollow Katherine on InstagramVisit Katherine’s WebsiteProduction CreditsGuest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan HutchinsSubstack Manager - Rebecca ArmstrongProducer - Alice LloydMusic - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

Settling in amongst the sparkling sea views and scented coniferous trees of Corfu, writer Mike Sowden tells Katherine why he is ditching the concept of escape to run towards places and people with enthusiasm and curiosity.  Conjuring up a beautiful stay on the island so beloved by author Gerald Durrell, where people are still viscerally connected to the changing seasons, Mike and Katherine find creativity in discomfort, stories from failed adventures and a shared desire to get out into the world more and embrace the randomness of life.Links from the episode:Mike’s Everything is Amazing newsletter on Substack Where Good Ideas Come From by Stephen JohnsonJourney into Cyprus by Colin ThubronBig Magic by Elizabeth GilbertSurfacing by Kathleen JamieA Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (and link to website all about her)Visit The Clearing website www.theclearingpod.com for a full transcript and to discover how to enjoy the episodes ad freeBuy Katherine’s books: Enchantment | Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing: UK / USFollow Katherine on InstagramVisit Katherine’s WebsiteProduction CreditsGuest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan HutchinsSubstack Manager - Rebecca ArmstrongProducer - Alice LloydMusic - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

Katherine explains why we are heeding our own advice and taking a tiny break this week. She also previews some exciting, listener-led bonus content that will be coming your way next season. We’ll be back next week with another wonderful guest for you. Meanwhile take care everyone.Visit The Clearing website www.theclearingpod.com for a full transcript and to discover how to enjoy the episodes ad freeBuy Katherine’s books: Enchantment | Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing: UK / USFollow Katherine on InstagramVisit Katherine’s WebsiteProduction CreditsGuest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan HutchinsSubstack Manager - Rebecca ArmstrongProducer - Alice LloydMusic - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

A modern sage who forewarned the world of the rise of fascism, writer Ece Temelkuran explains why she ‘put her heart in the freezer’ ten years ago when she fled her country of birth and how finding traces of home all around are helping her to heal. From a beloved old cardigan to episodes of Downton Abbey, from being surrounded by Turkish food in Berlin to talking to her three favourite trees in the park; in this moving conversation Ece reveals the power of finding joy in the little things, as we collectively go through what she calls our ‘winter of humanity’. A powerful call to arms and a must-listen for those of us searching for hope in difficult times.Links from the episode:Ece’s InstagramBuy her latest book Nation of Strangers hereBuy How to Lose a Country hereVisit The Clearing website www.theclearingpod.com for a full transcript and to discover how to enjoy the episodes ad freeBuy Katherine’s books: Enchantment | Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing: UK / USFollow Katherine on InstagramVisit Katherine’s WebsiteProduction CreditsGuest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan HutchinsSubstack Manager - Rebecca ArmstrongProducer - Alice LloydMusic - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

Author, storyteller and enrolled citizen of the Potawatomi nation, Kaitlin Curtice, shares her beautiful image of the perfect retreat, created by her own consciousness during the Covid pandemic. Exploring this space together, Katherine and Kaitlin discuss the little-appreciated power of ageing, looking for stories beneath the stories, the art of listening, feeling the presence of the ancestors and asking permission from the stones and shells before you bring them home. A wonderful episode of Indigenous wisdom, stillness and calm - the perfect moment of retreat. Kaitlin’s LinksKaitlin's website where you can find her booksKaitlin's Substack  Authors mentioned by KaitlinAlastair McIntoshClarissa Pinkola Estés John O'Donohue Billy Collins Musicians’ mentioned by Kaitlin Gregory Alan Isakov Glen HansardVisit The Clearing website www.theclearingpod.com for a full transcript and to discover how to enjoy the episodes ad freeBuy Katherine’s books: Enchantment | Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing: UK / USFollow Katherine on InstagramVisit Katherine’s WebsiteProduction CreditsGuest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan HutchinsSubstack Manager - Rebecca ArmstrongProducer - Alice LloydMusic - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

This episode of The Clearing with renowned, Oprah-endorsed American life coach Martha Beck and her wonderful wife and podcast co-host Rowan Mangan skips the small talk and delves right into the mysteries and wonder of life and death. From the consciousness of stones to the nonsensical hierarchy of different sentient beings on earth. From the spiritual repression of our age to the societal need for a shaman. From the realities of living in a liminal space as an autistic person, to parenting neurodivergent children to each of their own unique ‘awakenings’.With uncannily similar experiences of the world, Martha, Ro and Katherine roll through a dizzying array of mind-expanding subjects and shared interests, resulting in a truly captivating and enriching episode.Martha and Rowan’s LinksMartha’s website where you can find her booksRowan’s websiteMartha’s InstagramRowan’s InstagramMartha and Rowan’s Bewildered podcast Things mentioned in the showPoet Andrea Gibson’s website and movie Come See Me in the Good LightNisargadatta Maharaj wiki The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis hereVisit The Clearing website www.theclearingpod.com for a full transcript and to discover how to enjoy the episodes ad freeBuy Katherine’s books: Enchantment | Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing: UK / USFollow Katherine on InstagramVisit Katherine’s WebsiteProduction CreditsGuest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan HutchinsSubstack Manager - Rebecca ArmstrongProducer - Alice LloydMusic - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

Chef and cookery writer Melissa Hemsley shares her bucolic, Darling Buds of May-esque fantasy of ‘safe’ escape with Katherine. Filled with wild and domesticated animals roaming freely, Chi Gong, nudity, a hammock, friendly neighbours who are close but not too close, the sea, also close but not too close; it’s a warm hug of a landscape where everything is chaotic but controlled. Wild but safe. With people but alone. Calm chaos.A chance to escape the anxiety that accompanies her daily life, Melissa fully embraces the opportunity to imagine a place where her brain could take a rest from the worry and conjures something very beautiful in the process. Melissa’s linksMelissa’s website where you can buy her booksMelissa’s SubstackMelissa’s InstagramThings mentioned in the showThe Darling Buds of May TV Show wikiVisit The Clearing website www.theclearingpod.com for a full transcript and to discover how to enjoy the episodes ad freeBuy Katherine’s books: Enchantment | Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing: UK / USFollow Katherine on InstagramVisit Katherine’s WebsiteProduction CreditsGuest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan HutchinsSubstack Manager - Rebecca ArmstrongProducer - Alice LloydMusic - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary

The ADHD and autistic tendency to rest in motion is fully realised in American author and illustrator Andy J. Pizza’s vision of the ideal retreat. Choosing an extraordinary fictional setting which incorporates an ingenious method of travelling the world, this episode showcases the wonder of a brilliantly creative, neurodivergent brain. Along the way, and with many fascinating tangents, Andy and Katherine discuss the power of Miyazake films, their shared love of Fraggle Rock and longing for direction from the universe. A meticulously thought out and fully realised world that accommodates his own personal experience of ADHD, Andy unveils the most beautifully zany and imaginative dreamscape. An absolute treat.LinksAndy’s website where you can find his booksAndy’s InstagramAndy’s Creative Peptalk podcast Mentioned in the showFraggle RockLast of the Summer Wine WikiThe Master and his Emissary book about left and right brainThe Little PrinceVisit The Clearing website www.theclearingpod.com for a full transcript and to discover how to enjoy the episodes ad freeBuy Katherine’s books: Enchantment | Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing: UK / USFollow Katherine on InstagramVisit Katherine’s WebsiteProduction CreditsGuest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan HutchinsSubstack Manager - Rebecca ArmstrongProducer - Alice LloydMusic - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary