Elissa Altman on the beauty of impermanence

Experiencing everything, everywhere, all at once is where we find our guest Elissa Altman this week, as she chats to Katherine in the midst of a snow cyclone in Connecticut. An author and speaker whose work touches on issues of family, trauma, and the permission to create, she acknowledges her deep need for rest and retreat as she whisks us away to her favourite place in the world; a tiny cottage set back from a stony beach in Owl’s Head, Maine. Overlooking the sea and with guitar to hand, Katherine and Elissa grapple with overcoming guilt, the pleasures of re-reading, the fetishisation of Mary Oliver and the horror of people placing items on their desks. A glorious and warm-hearted episode with some timely reminders about the impermanence of things, good and bad. Links from the episode: Elissa’s website where you can find her books Elissa’s Substack Elissa’s Instagram Devotions poetry collection by Mary Oliver Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner The Garden Against Time by Olivia Laing Visit The Clearing website for a full transcript and to discover how to enjoy the episodes ad free Buy Katherine’s books: Enchantment | Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing : UK / US Follow Katherine on Instagram Visit Katherine’s Website Production Credits Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong Producer - Alice Lloyd Music - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Elissa Altman on the beauty of impermanence is an episode from The Wintering Sessions with Katherine May by Katherine May.

This episode is 1:00:46 long.

This episode was published on Mar 14, 2026.

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