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It was okay. Kind of confusing.
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When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life's Sacred Questions
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I stood at the window watching the cocoon, which hung in the winter air like an upside–down question mark. That was the moment... I understood. Really understood. Crisis, change, all the myriad upheavals that blister the spirit and leave us groping– they aren't voices simply of pain but also of creativity. And if we would only listen, we might hear such times beckoning us to a season of waiting, to the place of fertile emptiness.
Blending her own experiences with an intimate grasp of contemplative spirituality, Sue Monk Kidd relates the passionate and moving tale of her spiritual crisis at midlife, when life seemed to have lost meaning and how her longing for hasty escape from the pain yielded to a discipline of "active waiting." Comparing her experience to the formative processes inside a chrysalis on a wintry tree branch, Kidd reflects on the fact that the soul is often symbolized as a butterfly. The simple cocoon, a living parable of waiting, becomes an icon of hope for the transformation that the author sought. Kidd charts her re–ascent from the depths and offers a new understanding of the passage away from the self, which is based upon others' expectations, to the true self of God's unfolding intention. Her wise, inspiring book helps those in doubt and crisis recognize the opportunity to "dismantle old masks and patterns and unfold a deeper, more authentic self."
Blending her own experiences with an intimate grasp of contemplative spirituality, Sue Monk Kidd relates the passionate and moving tale of her spiritual crisis at midlife, when life seemed to have lost meaning and how her longing for hasty escape from the pain yielded to a discipline of "active waiting." Comparing her experience to the formative processes inside a chrysalis on a wintry tree branch, Kidd reflects on the fact that the soul is often symbolized as a butterfly. The simple cocoon, a living parable of waiting, becomes an icon of hope for the transformation that the author sought. Kidd charts her re–ascent from the depths and offers a new understanding of the passage away from the self, which is based upon others' expectations, to the true self of God's unfolding intention. Her wise, inspiring book helps those in doubt and crisis recognize the opportunity to "dismantle old masks and patterns and unfold a deeper, more authentic self."
226 pages, Paperback
First published January 1,1990
This edition
- Format
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226 pages, Paperback
- Published
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October 11, 2016 by HarperOne
- ISBN
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9780061144899
- ASIN
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0061144894
- Language
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English
About the author
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SUE MONK KIDD was raised in the small town of Sylvester, Georgia. She graduated from Texas Christian University in 1970 and later took creative writing courses at Emory University, as well as studying at Sewanee, Bread Loaf, and other writers' conferences. In her forties, Kidd turned her attention to writing fiction, winning the South Carolina Fellowship in Literature and the 1996 Poets & Writers Exchange Program in Fiction.
When her first novel, The Secret Life of Bees, was published by Viking in 2002, it became a genuine literary phenomenon, spending more than 2½ years on the New York Times bestseller list. It has been translated into 36 languages and sold more than 6 million copies in the U.S. and 8 million copies worldwide. Bees was named the Book Sense Paperback Book of the Year in 2004, long-listed for the 2002 Orange Prize in England, and won numerous awards. The novel was adapted into a award-winning movie and an Off-Broadway musical.
The Mermaid Chair spent 24 weeks on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list, reaching the #1 position, and spent 22 weeks on the New York Times trade paperback list. The novel won the Nation Quill Award and was made into the television movie.
The Invention of Wings, her third novel, was published in 2014 to wide critical acclaim and debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list where it remained for 9 months. It was selected for Oprah Winfrey's Bookclub 2.0 and other awards. Wings has been translated to 20+ languages.
She is also the author of several acclaimed memoirs, including The Dance of the Dissident Daughter and New York Times bestseller Traveling with Pomegranates, written with her daughter, Ann Kidd Taylor.
Her latest novel, The Book of Longings, is to be published on April 21, 2020.
Kidd lives in North Carolina with her husband.
Please visit www.suemonkkidd.com for more information. Follow Sue on Twitter & Instagram @SueMonkKidd and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/suemonkkidd
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Rating(3.9 / 5.0, 99 votes)
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99 reviews All reviews
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After seeing Sue on Super Soul Sunday, I picked up this book. Maybe back at the end of 2015, early 2016. Her words & writing really urged me forward in owning my truth and being okay with changing my life path after age 40.
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Published in 1990, in When the Heart Waits, Sue Monk Kid says, "I was standing on the shifting ground of midlife . . . ". I'm well beyond midlife's "shifting ground" and yet, I think we need to be reminded over and over again throughout our lives of what's truly important and how to live well. Kidd brings us those reminders. At the end of the book, she says, "Spiritual growth has no boundaries." Amen.
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Reading "When the Heart Waits," while reading another memoir. I think the feeling Sue Monk Kidd expresses is an emotion we all grapple with at times in our lives. There can be a wave of emotion that can be so deep and yet so undexpected, there is no reason for the shift. Internal observation of ones thoughts and feelings are the only way to move past moments like these. Society by design has trained our souls to stay distracted from what hurts. However, my early years in acting and theatre class explored characters, plots and human nature. "Why do we act like that when this happens?" What is causing this feeling?" "Are you understanding the scene?"
What I love about this book is Sue Monk Kidd braves the deep waters of darkness and I am sure the ending will be worth her bravery of facing that pain.
What I love about this book is Sue Monk Kidd braves the deep waters of darkness and I am sure the ending will be worth her bravery of facing that pain.
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I really needed this book and recommend it to anyone who is a thinker, such as myself, and who tends to want life-results immediately.
The book is an account of Kidd's spiritual crisis at midlife, and the conclusion that she comes to is that sometimes, there is nothing TO DO but to wait. The book is peppered with biblican references, but they did not throw me as they sometimes do. I was able to glean comfort from what she had experienced and to realize that waiting itself is sometimes the only action we can take when we are trying to heal.
The book is an account of Kidd's spiritual crisis at midlife, and the conclusion that she comes to is that sometimes, there is nothing TO DO but to wait. The book is peppered with biblican references, but they did not throw me as they sometimes do. I was able to glean comfort from what she had experienced and to realize that waiting itself is sometimes the only action we can take when we are trying to heal.
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This was a perfect read for this season of life. I'm thankful for an authentic look at what work is happening in a season of waiting.
"God is not just a healer, but a midwife."
"God is not just a healer, but a midwife."
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Amazing book. Preferred it over The Dance of the Dissident Daughter. It depicts more of her internal spiritual awakening and overall journey, especially in the early stages when she was learning to let go of her old self.
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My progress through this memoir was as slow as SMK'S awakening of which she writes. Throughout the book, she chews, regurgitates and circles around her acknowledgement that Christianity may not be the core of her soul. Yet, even in the end of this memoir, she only glimpses at the awakening. That revelation comes later in her "Dance of the Dissident Daughter."
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