Season One Interlude

Most of you will need no introduction to Elizabeth Gilbert. The international best-selling author of Eat Pray Love and Big Magic has sold a staggering 25 million books worldwide and is very much ‘a phenomenon’.

This week’s guest is someone Katherine has wanted on The Clearing since the very beginning. Sleep whisperer and ‘architect of coziness’, Kathryn Nicolai is the talent behind one of Katherine’s very favourite podcasts - Nothing Much Happens. Described as ‘bedtime stories for everyone’ it’s a show that combines Kathryn’s skill for storytelling with one of the most soothing voices in the business. The result is the aural equivalent of being rocked to sleep.

A friend of Sarah Wilson’s once told her she was always ‘looking for trouble’. It is clear from this episode that the best-selling Australian author, podcaster and TV presenter is hard-wired for restlessness. A self-confessed ‘edge-seeker’, constantly pushing boundaries in a flirtation with life, she proves a fascinating guest to discuss ideas of rest with Katherine. Finding the pressures of a small cabin or ‘being good at rest’ too claustrophobic and restrictive, Sarah instead finds ultimate peace being out in the ancient, Australian desert. The dry heat, crunchy dirt underfoot and minimal distractions in a monotonous landscape are where she feels truly alive. It’s the great equaliser. A place to feel what Oliver Burkeman calls ‘cosmic insignificance’. It’s also just one of the many extraordinary and often surprising places she has perfected the ultimate tent-life; much to Katherine’s horror who practically shudders at just the word tent! A truly original vision of rest from someone who has learnt to integrate work and leisure to such an extent that rest has been rendered meaningless. Links from the episode: Sarah’s website https://sarahwilson.com/ Sarah’s book I Eat the Stars Sarah’s podcast Wild with Sarah Wilson Sarah’s Substack https://substack.com/@sarahwilson Katherine’s new book, Tending: How Care Binds the World is out in March and you can pre-order it here https://katherine-may.co.uk/tending Visit The Clearing website www.theclearingpod.com for a full transcript, to discover how to enjoy our bonus episodes, our ad free episodes and if you subscribe, how to submit your own idea for a dream retreat.

Barbara Carrellas believes we can find the truest rest in moments of awe. The author of ‘The Book of Ecstasy’ says even in life’s darkest moments, ecstasy is possible. It’s something seeded in her practice of ‘Urban Tantra’ - a non-touch sexual practice rooted in her experience of working with the people and communities affected by New York’s AIDS crisis in the 1980s.

Comedian, podcaster, radio presenter and bona fide history nerd Pierre Novellie joins Katherine in The Clearing for this week’s episode.