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Midlife and the Great Unknown: Finding Courage and Clarity Through Poetry
"In the middle of the road of my life I awoke in a dark wood, where the true way was wholly lost." When you find yourself suddenly without bearings, as Dante Alighieri voiced so well centuries ago, where will you look for guidance?
Throughout the ages, teaches David Whyte, the language of poetry has held a special power to hazard ourselves boldly at the fierce edges of our lives. On Midlife and the Great Unknown , you will engage with poetic imagination as it was meant to be as your companion and guide for the challenging terrain of midlife. Join this Yorkshire-born poet and bestselling author to
Radical simplification―an invitation to sit in silent reflection and observation
• Using your poetic imagination to navigate life's cycles of loss and joy
• Honoring who you are right now, including your skills and limitations, and more
The language of poetry can emancipate you into the next phase of your existence, teaches David Whyte. It can help you break through obstacles and give you courage to take necessary risks. Drawing from the wisdom of fellow poets Rainer Maria Rilke, Emily Dickinson, and Seamus Heaney, Whyte invites you to boldly engage in a conversation with the second half of your life on Midlife and the Great Unknown
Excerpted from the full-length audio course Clear Mind, Wild Heart .
Throughout the ages, teaches David Whyte, the language of poetry has held a special power to hazard ourselves boldly at the fierce edges of our lives. On Midlife and the Great Unknown , you will engage with poetic imagination as it was meant to be as your companion and guide for the challenging terrain of midlife. Join this Yorkshire-born poet and bestselling author to
Radical simplification―an invitation to sit in silent reflection and observation
• Using your poetic imagination to navigate life's cycles of loss and joy
• Honoring who you are right now, including your skills and limitations, and more
The language of poetry can emancipate you into the next phase of your existence, teaches David Whyte. It can help you break through obstacles and give you courage to take necessary risks. Drawing from the wisdom of fellow poets Rainer Maria Rilke, Emily Dickinson, and Seamus Heaney, Whyte invites you to boldly engage in a conversation with the second half of your life on Midlife and the Great Unknown
Excerpted from the full-length audio course Clear Mind, Wild Heart .
Audio CD
First published June 1, 2003
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About the author
David Whyte
87 books1,593 followersPoet David Whyte grew up with a strong, imaginative influence from his Irish mother among the hills and valleys of his father’s Yorkshire. He now makes his home in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.
The author of seven books of poetry and three books of prose, David Whyte holds a degree in Marine Zoology and has traveled extensively, including living and working as a naturalist guide in the Galapagos Islands and leading anthropological and natural history expeditions in the Andes, Amazon and Himalaya. He brings this wealth of experience to his poetry, lectures and workshops.
His life as a poet has created a readership and listenership in three normally mutually exclusive areas: the literate world of readings that most poets inhabit, the psychological and theological worlds of philosophical enquiry and the world of vocation, work and organizational leadership.
An Associate Fellow at Said Business School at the University of Oxford, he is one of the few poets to take his perspectives on creativity into the field of organizational development, where he works with many European, American and international companies. In spring of 2008 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Neumann College, Pennsylvania.
In organizational settings, using poetry and thoughtful commentary, he illustrates how we can foster qualities of courage and engagement; qualities needed if we are to respond to today’s call for increased creativity and adaptability in the workplace. He brings a unique and important contribution to our understanding of the nature of individual and organizational change, particularly through his unique perspectives on Conversational Leadership.
The author of seven books of poetry and three books of prose, David Whyte holds a degree in Marine Zoology and has traveled extensively, including living and working as a naturalist guide in the Galapagos Islands and leading anthropological and natural history expeditions in the Andes, Amazon and Himalaya. He brings this wealth of experience to his poetry, lectures and workshops.
His life as a poet has created a readership and listenership in three normally mutually exclusive areas: the literate world of readings that most poets inhabit, the psychological and theological worlds of philosophical enquiry and the world of vocation, work and organizational leadership.
An Associate Fellow at Said Business School at the University of Oxford, he is one of the few poets to take his perspectives on creativity into the field of organizational development, where he works with many European, American and international companies. In spring of 2008 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Neumann College, Pennsylvania.
In organizational settings, using poetry and thoughtful commentary, he illustrates how we can foster qualities of courage and engagement; qualities needed if we are to respond to today’s call for increased creativity and adaptability in the workplace. He brings a unique and important contribution to our understanding of the nature of individual and organizational change, particularly through his unique perspectives on Conversational Leadership.
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October 10, 2017
My wife and I just spent a day in the car, listening to this program, driving through the Southern California mountains, wineries and orchards, back and forth from a long, ridiculously gorgeous beach walk with our dogs.
It was essentially my first day off in 16 weeks.
It was a perfect, 75 degree day. The dogs were overjoyed. My wife was running and playing with them. She looked lovely. We were both in good health. The surf was gentle and warm. The sand was flat, clean and firm.
For a moment, it was so wonderful and perfect I was without thoughts. I was just noticing and deeply appreciating the moment.
Of course, all of this appreciation was emerging from a pervasive and undeniable sense of impermanence. But that only served to amplify the joyous experience of the simple beauty of it all.
I'm 47. Beginning at around age 40, I responded to the events of the Great Recession by going back to school for my MA, and embarking on a 2nd career as a psychotherapist.
It has been a wonderful privilege. But also an intense little climb.
Both my wife and myself have had to sacrifice just about every superfluous comfort and fancy in order to walk this path. We have literally been down to our last nickel on so many occasions that I have actually lost count.
Over and over, through wave after wave of austerity, we have had to ask ourselves "what's really essential". Every time the answer has been our love and our work.
Every time we have been on what felt like the brink. We have asked ourselves "are we okay right here and right now" and every time, the answer has been decidedly yes.
And now we're here.
Thus far, my experience of midlife has been predominantly one of noticing suffering, or at least noticing intensity and discomfort, practicing radical acceptance of life as it is, practicing self-care, contacting my values and stepping in the direction of a richer more meaningful future.
What has emerged from this process has been a life stripped back to the bare bones of acceptance, commitment, meaning and service.
We are finally reaching the point where things are stabilizing. And we are reintroducing some of those extra little pleasures again. A nice meal out. A relaxing day off. A moment to recharge and reconnect.
We are finally harvesting and tasting some of the fruits of our sacrifice and hard labor.
Only now, we really savor and appreciate these flavors in a whole new way. And let me tell you. They are delicious.
Same flavors.
Whole new experience.
This is what Midlife and the Great Unknown is all about. Shedding the old skin. Identifying what matters. Arriving in the present moment. Appreciating life for what it is. Diving in to the shark infested blue hole in the ocean and retrieving treasures from the abyss.
David Whyte is himself a treasure. He has clearly done so much diving and seeking, that his mind is like a strong box and every little utterance is a rich, multifaceted jewel of love, loss and deep appreciation.
His practice is reading and writing poetry. He has clearly spent so much time grasping at the obscure, essential meaning of words that he is, for lack of a better way of phrasing it, just plain good at it.
He's a professional meaning maker.
Midlife and the Great Unknown is a meditation on making meaning out of this often maligned but utterly profound juncture of life otherwise know as the middle passage.
According to Whyte, it's our time to shed our sandals, stand on wholly ground, listen to the voice in the fire, and deliver it's wisdom in words and deeds that others can understand and benefit from.
One time, when I was in my 20's, I was walking in Berkeley and I met a figurative sculptor who worked in the traditional way of carving marble. His work was phenomenal. I was in awe of this man. He had clearly sacrificed everything for his art. At one point he said "this is what you get when you dedicate your whole life to something".
I don't think I'll ever forget that.
David Whyte reminds me of that guy. He has dedicated his whole life to reading and writing poetry.
I can't help but respect him for walking this path.
I'm sure becoming a poet was at times an utterly groundless and terrifying journey.
How many well intended (or even not so well intended) skeptical, cautious words of advice must he have endured. You know, "I guess you could always teach English as a backup plan", that kind of stuff.
How many times did he have to ask himself "am I okay right here, right now". How many times did he have to dive into the shark infested unknown.
Well, the good news for us is that he did, and he brought back some real treasure, and he freely and generously offers it for our benefit at this particularly bitter sweet juncture of life, where everything right here and right now is still alright, but undeniably about to change.
What will you do with the rest of you're one wild life? The "crisis" of midlife is to answer that question, and deliver the fruits of your hard earned wisdom to your hungry fellow travelers.
Thank you David Whyte for dedicating your one wild life to exactly, just that.
I wrote the above on 5/17/15. I Just finished re-listening to the amazing thing today 7/8/17. I think it's my 4th or 5th listen. It's every bit as satisfying as the fist time. David Whyte is a treasure.
.
It was essentially my first day off in 16 weeks.
It was a perfect, 75 degree day. The dogs were overjoyed. My wife was running and playing with them. She looked lovely. We were both in good health. The surf was gentle and warm. The sand was flat, clean and firm.
For a moment, it was so wonderful and perfect I was without thoughts. I was just noticing and deeply appreciating the moment.
Of course, all of this appreciation was emerging from a pervasive and undeniable sense of impermanence. But that only served to amplify the joyous experience of the simple beauty of it all.
I'm 47. Beginning at around age 40, I responded to the events of the Great Recession by going back to school for my MA, and embarking on a 2nd career as a psychotherapist.
It has been a wonderful privilege. But also an intense little climb.
Both my wife and myself have had to sacrifice just about every superfluous comfort and fancy in order to walk this path. We have literally been down to our last nickel on so many occasions that I have actually lost count.
Over and over, through wave after wave of austerity, we have had to ask ourselves "what's really essential". Every time the answer has been our love and our work.
Every time we have been on what felt like the brink. We have asked ourselves "are we okay right here and right now" and every time, the answer has been decidedly yes.
And now we're here.
Thus far, my experience of midlife has been predominantly one of noticing suffering, or at least noticing intensity and discomfort, practicing radical acceptance of life as it is, practicing self-care, contacting my values and stepping in the direction of a richer more meaningful future.
What has emerged from this process has been a life stripped back to the bare bones of acceptance, commitment, meaning and service.
We are finally reaching the point where things are stabilizing. And we are reintroducing some of those extra little pleasures again. A nice meal out. A relaxing day off. A moment to recharge and reconnect.
We are finally harvesting and tasting some of the fruits of our sacrifice and hard labor.
Only now, we really savor and appreciate these flavors in a whole new way. And let me tell you. They are delicious.
Same flavors.
Whole new experience.
This is what Midlife and the Great Unknown is all about. Shedding the old skin. Identifying what matters. Arriving in the present moment. Appreciating life for what it is. Diving in to the shark infested blue hole in the ocean and retrieving treasures from the abyss.
David Whyte is himself a treasure. He has clearly done so much diving and seeking, that his mind is like a strong box and every little utterance is a rich, multifaceted jewel of love, loss and deep appreciation.
His practice is reading and writing poetry. He has clearly spent so much time grasping at the obscure, essential meaning of words that he is, for lack of a better way of phrasing it, just plain good at it.
He's a professional meaning maker.
Midlife and the Great Unknown is a meditation on making meaning out of this often maligned but utterly profound juncture of life otherwise know as the middle passage.
According to Whyte, it's our time to shed our sandals, stand on wholly ground, listen to the voice in the fire, and deliver it's wisdom in words and deeds that others can understand and benefit from.
One time, when I was in my 20's, I was walking in Berkeley and I met a figurative sculptor who worked in the traditional way of carving marble. His work was phenomenal. I was in awe of this man. He had clearly sacrificed everything for his art. At one point he said "this is what you get when you dedicate your whole life to something".
I don't think I'll ever forget that.
David Whyte reminds me of that guy. He has dedicated his whole life to reading and writing poetry.
I can't help but respect him for walking this path.
I'm sure becoming a poet was at times an utterly groundless and terrifying journey.
How many well intended (or even not so well intended) skeptical, cautious words of advice must he have endured. You know, "I guess you could always teach English as a backup plan", that kind of stuff.
How many times did he have to ask himself "am I okay right here, right now". How many times did he have to dive into the shark infested unknown.
Well, the good news for us is that he did, and he brought back some real treasure, and he freely and generously offers it for our benefit at this particularly bitter sweet juncture of life, where everything right here and right now is still alright, but undeniably about to change.
What will you do with the rest of you're one wild life? The "crisis" of midlife is to answer that question, and deliver the fruits of your hard earned wisdom to your hungry fellow travelers.
Thank you David Whyte for dedicating your one wild life to exactly, just that.
I wrote the above on 5/17/15. I Just finished re-listening to the amazing thing today 7/8/17. I think it's my 4th or 5th listen. It's every bit as satisfying as the fist time. David Whyte is a treasure.
.
December 29, 2017
Courage is the ability to cultivate a relationship with the unknown. To create a form of friendship, if you will, with what lies around the corner, over the horizon, with those things that have not yet fully come into being.
Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness, to learn that anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you.
You take life as you find it. And you build marvelous things from everything that’s there in the recipe, in the elements that are gathered in any one particular moment in your life.
The antidote to exhaustion is not necessarily rest. The antidote to exhaustion is wholeheartedness. The reason you’re so exhausted is that much of what you’re doing you have no affection for. You’re doing it because you have an abstract idea that this is what you should be doing in order to be liked.
You have to put yourself in an adult relationship with the things in the world.
Mary Oliver: “You do not have to be good. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what is loves.”
One of the great disciplines of marriage is to allow another person not to be overshadowed or encompassed or imprisoned by your fears within the marriage. It’s one of the challenges for human kind at this point in our history to allow the natural world to have places where it’s untouched and can regenerate itself.
You should attempt to feel your aloneness in as startlingly clear and stark way as possible. And once you’re at the bottom of that aloneness, you will be put back into relationship with the rest of the world. And it’s one of the more difficult disciplines, of course. The first feeling is to put everything right, to start making relationships again, to go out. But there is an old tradition of mourning, of pulling the curtains of the house, of not going out, of retreating into a kind of darkness, of going into the ashes of the world, that is very old, and I do think at times very necessary.
Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness, to learn that anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you.
You take life as you find it. And you build marvelous things from everything that’s there in the recipe, in the elements that are gathered in any one particular moment in your life.
The antidote to exhaustion is not necessarily rest. The antidote to exhaustion is wholeheartedness. The reason you’re so exhausted is that much of what you’re doing you have no affection for. You’re doing it because you have an abstract idea that this is what you should be doing in order to be liked.
You have to put yourself in an adult relationship with the things in the world.
Mary Oliver: “You do not have to be good. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what is loves.”
One of the great disciplines of marriage is to allow another person not to be overshadowed or encompassed or imprisoned by your fears within the marriage. It’s one of the challenges for human kind at this point in our history to allow the natural world to have places where it’s untouched and can regenerate itself.
You should attempt to feel your aloneness in as startlingly clear and stark way as possible. And once you’re at the bottom of that aloneness, you will be put back into relationship with the rest of the world. And it’s one of the more difficult disciplines, of course. The first feeling is to put everything right, to start making relationships again, to go out. But there is an old tradition of mourning, of pulling the curtains of the house, of not going out, of retreating into a kind of darkness, of going into the ashes of the world, that is very old, and I do think at times very necessary.
February 24, 2023
This was excellent. I listened to this on audio. It seemed more like a lecture than a book, but it is full of thought-provoking ideas I will carry with me now. From how to combat exhaustion to harvesting to grief and the place of darkness.
July 27, 2024
In my opinion, no one stirs the soul with such grace and depth as David Whyte. This work is a must-listen (rather than just a read) and is absolutely worth purchasing the audiobook version narrated by the author himself.
Whyte delves into the essence of life and what it truly means to live, all conveyed in his uniquely poetic and evocative style.
I especially recommend this to those feeling stuck or in a rut, as his messages are both soothing and affirming, offering a gentle push towards renewal.
Whyte delves into the essence of life and what it truly means to live, all conveyed in his uniquely poetic and evocative style.
I especially recommend this to those feeling stuck or in a rut, as his messages are both soothing and affirming, offering a gentle push towards renewal.
December 12, 2021
Great wisdom with very soothing voice on life. Needs to be listened multiple times. This was my first introduction to David Whyte.
November 20, 2025
I listened to the author read this on Audible on repeat for two weeks. The opening quotation is from Dante - 'In the middle of life, I found myself in a dark wood...' and it goes on from there.
There's so much thought-provoking insight into what it is to feel stuck / lost / fearful later in life. It's helping me think through 'what next' as I consider my career, my pretty much empty nest, and my own writing.
There's so much thought-provoking insight into what it is to feel stuck / lost / fearful later in life. It's helping me think through 'what next' as I consider my career, my pretty much empty nest, and my own writing.
March 20, 2014
I really enjoyed Whyte's commentary and recitation of his own poetry and that of others. It's a bit rambling in nature, hard to follow his structure. But the reflections on becoming your true self and doing work that you can be wholehearted about, those were fantastic. So was the elegy for his Welsh friend. As if I didn't already know that I just need to read Whyte's entire collection, I'm more convinced now.
Two things were slightly annoying:
1. The way Whyte recites poetry includes this odd, distracting habit of repeating phrases frequently. He does it so that you really grasp the significance of the line, but the pacing and space is all messed up.
2. The track breaks on the CD are in strange places. I haven't looked closely, but maybe they're just equally timed. But they're not placed between themes, paragraphs, poems, whatever. To find something you have to track change and just fast forward or rewind, or maybe listen to the track. If you want to queue up a specific thought, good luck.
Those are minor nitpicks in the end. I'll listen to this CD many times over.
Two things were slightly annoying:
1. The way Whyte recites poetry includes this odd, distracting habit of repeating phrases frequently. He does it so that you really grasp the significance of the line, but the pacing and space is all messed up.
2. The track breaks on the CD are in strange places. I haven't looked closely, but maybe they're just equally timed. But they're not placed between themes, paragraphs, poems, whatever. To find something you have to track change and just fast forward or rewind, or maybe listen to the track. If you want to queue up a specific thought, good luck.
Those are minor nitpicks in the end. I'll listen to this CD many times over.
February 25, 2016
Whyte is my favorite poet, so it is wonderful to listen to him talk about the midlife passage, and how important it is to reap the harvest of this stage of life. He also weaves in quotes from his own poetry and the poetry of others like Rilke and Mary Oliver. This is the second time I've listened to this and I plan on listening to it once a quarter or so. There isn't a print version of this audio book. His insights are very Jungian to me and Jungian analyst James Hollis's audiobook Through the Dark Wood is a perfect companion to this.
January 2, 2019
Whoa, mind blown! Came across this innocently enough after hearing David interviewed by Krista Tippet. What drew me in was how he spoke of poetry as a vocabulary for the numinous and how this extended to our everyday lives. Nothing new in itself but I've never been convinced previously. I went in expecting poetry with a focus on midlife what I found was much more. What was it? Not 100% sure at the moment, but something worth discovering. A short read, I'll be going over it again soon to pull more out of it.
January 4, 2022
So beautiful. I'm not sure if it's my Irish, Scot, Welsh and English ancestry or my certainty that I've lived a previous life there; but David Whyte's poetry leaves lumps in my throat and tears in my eyes and the sense of peat in my fingernails. If you have the opportunity to listen to his books, I recommend it, in addition to reading them. I've been fortunate enough to hear him in person, and hope to again. I feel such a kinship to his poetry and storytelling and the lessons that come from them.
December 27, 2016
I've listened to this at least 5 times in the last 12 months. It's filled with amazing stories and antidotes that help reorient one's view of life. David Whyte is the one that narrates the audiobook/CD as well.
October 5, 2024
I awoke this morning in the gold light turning this way and that
thinking for a moment it was one day like any other.
But the veil had gone from my darkened heart and I thought
it must have been the quiet candlelight that filled my room,
it must have been the first easy rhythm with which I breathed myself to sleep,
it must have been the prayer I said speaking to the otherness of the night.
And I thought this is the good day you could meet your love,
this is the black day someone close to you could die.
This is the day you realize how easily the thread is broken
between this world and the next...
the tawny close grained cedar burning round me like fire
and all the angels of this housely heaven ascending
through the first roof of light the sun has made.
This is the bright home in which I live, this is where
I ask my friends to come, this is where I want to love all the things
it has taken me so long to learn to love.
This is the temple of my adult aloneness and I belong
to that aloneness as I belong to my life.
Explanation
Some days you wake up not realising that this is not like all those days. This is truly a new day after a really dark night, a new start. We often drift through life on autopilot that we forget to experience life on deeper levels. We forget to appreciate the little things. These little things can lead to such pivotal moments where you don't feel heavy on the heart anymore. Suddenly the veil is lifted, revealing a clarity that wasn’t there before. The heart, once "darkened," is now open, illuminated. You're seeing things with clarity and this is a gift of peace. You are breathing with ease. And this peaceful morning can be the result of prayer in the night full of mystery and quiet —of reaching out to something beyond the self, something unknown ("otherness"). This peaceful day full of clarity can open door for new love- new revelation and purpose. And it can easily be the day where I can lose someone I love. Life is so fragile that joy and sorrow can exist side by side —the possibility of both love and loss is ever-present. Life, connection, existence—these things are precious and fleeting. Surrounded by the warmth of the burning cedar and the light of the rising sun, You can feel a connection to something beyond the physical world—a "housely heaven." It feels like messengers of the divine isn't far off this place, they are right here within the everyday, the domestic. They live in the peaceful home which you have built around you. This is a temple where you invite your friends. This is also the place where you learn to love the aspects of your life which you haven't embraced before. This is that sacred space where you embrace the solitude— a space of personal sanctity and depth. This aloneness is ever present and I accept it as my life.
This beautiful poem has touched my soul in a way that I cried a little.
David Whyte’s poetry and reflections on life are incredibly powerful, especially in times of emotional turmoil. His work often touches on themes of transition, heartbreak, and the deep, often hidden, emotional currents we experience in midlife and beyond. Whyte's ability to blend wisdom, vulnerability, and a sense of calm in his writing makes it an ideal companion during those low moments.
who should read this book?
If you're going through something tumultous and heartbreaking and you want to know if anyone ever felt this before then this book is for you. It is full of poems and their descriptions. I hope you love it.
thinking for a moment it was one day like any other.
But the veil had gone from my darkened heart and I thought
it must have been the quiet candlelight that filled my room,
it must have been the first easy rhythm with which I breathed myself to sleep,
it must have been the prayer I said speaking to the otherness of the night.
And I thought this is the good day you could meet your love,
this is the black day someone close to you could die.
This is the day you realize how easily the thread is broken
between this world and the next...
the tawny close grained cedar burning round me like fire
and all the angels of this housely heaven ascending
through the first roof of light the sun has made.
This is the bright home in which I live, this is where
I ask my friends to come, this is where I want to love all the things
it has taken me so long to learn to love.
This is the temple of my adult aloneness and I belong
to that aloneness as I belong to my life.
Explanation
Some days you wake up not realising that this is not like all those days. This is truly a new day after a really dark night, a new start. We often drift through life on autopilot that we forget to experience life on deeper levels. We forget to appreciate the little things. These little things can lead to such pivotal moments where you don't feel heavy on the heart anymore. Suddenly the veil is lifted, revealing a clarity that wasn’t there before. The heart, once "darkened," is now open, illuminated. You're seeing things with clarity and this is a gift of peace. You are breathing with ease. And this peaceful morning can be the result of prayer in the night full of mystery and quiet —of reaching out to something beyond the self, something unknown ("otherness"). This peaceful day full of clarity can open door for new love- new revelation and purpose. And it can easily be the day where I can lose someone I love. Life is so fragile that joy and sorrow can exist side by side —the possibility of both love and loss is ever-present. Life, connection, existence—these things are precious and fleeting. Surrounded by the warmth of the burning cedar and the light of the rising sun, You can feel a connection to something beyond the physical world—a "housely heaven." It feels like messengers of the divine isn't far off this place, they are right here within the everyday, the domestic. They live in the peaceful home which you have built around you. This is a temple where you invite your friends. This is also the place where you learn to love the aspects of your life which you haven't embraced before. This is that sacred space where you embrace the solitude— a space of personal sanctity and depth. This aloneness is ever present and I accept it as my life.
This beautiful poem has touched my soul in a way that I cried a little.
David Whyte’s poetry and reflections on life are incredibly powerful, especially in times of emotional turmoil. His work often touches on themes of transition, heartbreak, and the deep, often hidden, emotional currents we experience in midlife and beyond. Whyte's ability to blend wisdom, vulnerability, and a sense of calm in his writing makes it an ideal companion during those low moments.
who should read this book?
If you're going through something tumultous and heartbreaking and you want to know if anyone ever felt this before then this book is for you. It is full of poems and their descriptions. I hope you love it.
August 28, 2021
I listened to the unabridged 3-hour audio version of this title (read by the author, Sounds True, 2008).
This book, targeting the 25% of people between the ages of 35 and 55 living in the United States, is an excerpt from the 2001 set "Clear Mind Wild Heart." I am not in the targeted demographic, but still decided to peruse the book, having heard praise for Whyte’s success in bringing the poetic imagination, not only to people's private lives, but also to the corporate world.
While talking about the need to engage with the poetic imagination as a companion and guide for the challenging terrain of midlife, Whyte makes a remarkable observation: A swan is extremely awkward when it walks on land, barely able to maintain its balance, but it undergoes a magical transformation, as it steps from land into the water, suddenly becoming agile and majestic. We all need to find our elements, the setting in which we can be graceful and self-assured.
Elsewhere, Whyte opines that one of the saddest things to observe in this world is an old person who has become bitter and cynical. The outer bodily deterioration, combined with the mind's inner rot, is simply unbearable! As American writer Henry Miller opined about aging, "If you can keep from growing sour, surly, bitter and cynical, man you’ve got it half licked."
I suppose these two pieces of advice, as well as much of the book's other content, is just as useful to human-beings before reaching midlife and afterwards, so I recommend the book to everyone, young and old.
This book, targeting the 25% of people between the ages of 35 and 55 living in the United States, is an excerpt from the 2001 set "Clear Mind Wild Heart." I am not in the targeted demographic, but still decided to peruse the book, having heard praise for Whyte’s success in bringing the poetic imagination, not only to people's private lives, but also to the corporate world.
While talking about the need to engage with the poetic imagination as a companion and guide for the challenging terrain of midlife, Whyte makes a remarkable observation: A swan is extremely awkward when it walks on land, barely able to maintain its balance, but it undergoes a magical transformation, as it steps from land into the water, suddenly becoming agile and majestic. We all need to find our elements, the setting in which we can be graceful and self-assured.
Elsewhere, Whyte opines that one of the saddest things to observe in this world is an old person who has become bitter and cynical. The outer bodily deterioration, combined with the mind's inner rot, is simply unbearable! As American writer Henry Miller opined about aging, "If you can keep from growing sour, surly, bitter and cynical, man you’ve got it half licked."
I suppose these two pieces of advice, as well as much of the book's other content, is just as useful to human-beings before reaching midlife and afterwards, so I recommend the book to everyone, young and old.
July 15, 2020
" The cure for exhaustion is not rest, rather it is full heartedness" is one of my favorites quotes from the British poet David Whyte in his widely popular novel “Midlife and great unknown”
In a poetic journey with a plethora of thoughts somewhat arranged in an structure around the theme, of one day finding yourself in midlife and realizing you are lost.
Take time to ponder and own your life instead of letting it own you, David seem to state as he mentally leans on Dante’s famous quote “in the middle of the road of my life I awoke in a dark wood, where the true way was wholly lost”.
The book gives food for thought and time to reflect on important things in life and our inner priorities.
A good read.
In a poetic journey with a plethora of thoughts somewhat arranged in an structure around the theme, of one day finding yourself in midlife and realizing you are lost.
Take time to ponder and own your life instead of letting it own you, David seem to state as he mentally leans on Dante’s famous quote “in the middle of the road of my life I awoke in a dark wood, where the true way was wholly lost”.
The book gives food for thought and time to reflect on important things in life and our inner priorities.
A good read.
February 9, 2023
This will be the first of many times I will listen to this audio-only reading by David Whyte. I can't recommend it enough, no matter your age. I actually think it's unfortunate that the title will cause many to automatically disregard it if they aren't at "midlife". I already loved Whyte's poetry, so it was an obvious choice for me to listen to this as a 51-year-old, but as I listened, I realized I was hearing a message that applied universally: Be present in your life and open your eyes to what is before you, whether it be good or ill. If you decide to pick this one up and listen, don't expect a predicable, outlined path from start to finish. You have to walk with him where he's going and receive what comes along the way. It's quite beautiful.
August 16, 2025
I’ve read several of his books and this is in my top three. As we hit midlife, he really gets into the quiet shifts that happen inside us—stuff we don’t always notice but that starts shaping the questions we ask ourselves. His idea of life as a work of art is strong throughout, and he shows how that expression changes as we grow. One of the big takeaways for me was learning to live with the Unknown—not just tolerate it, but actually lean into it. Midlife felt like a solid guide for exploring the inner terrain that I often overlook.
July 15, 2021
I will refer to this again and again. I will listen to this more than once this year, for sure, because I’m in the mid-life process of dying and being reborn. The roles I’ve held for so long that have served so well no longer serve me or others. David Whyte’s meditations here help me envision how to let these roles die and that there is a path forwards, a creative, vital path of awakening and awareness of being at every stage of this experience of changes through life.
April 8, 2022
David Whyte at his gritty best. In this short collection he narrates several carefully chosen auto-biographical stories; from these he wrings an incomparable, gut-wrenching, and truly poetic compassion, and insodoing lights a path - for those who listen - towards a meaningful engagement with the final half of our lives.
April 6, 2019
I liked Whyte's book, The Three Marriages and thought I would read the others, but this one was not good. It was mostly his musings and his poetry. And though I am a fan of poetry, I am not a fan of his poetry.
March 2, 2020
Powerful wise and profound words dressed in crafted imagery of language often repeated for maximum effect - Brilliant
Wisdom of age and aging brought to life in beautiful language weaving deeper meanings to the most mundane
Wisdom of age and aging brought to life in beautiful language weaving deeper meanings to the most mundane
July 19, 2021
There is great wisdom to be found in the simplicity with which David Whyte articulates the things of the spirit, the love of the landscape and the challenges and rewards of a life lived creatively. A book to return to again and again
April 28, 2023
This 2.5 hour audio (excerpted from Whyte's course Clear Mind, Wild Heart) was extraordinary – beautiful and insightful, from a voice that's the highest combination of raw, authentic and literate.
January 11, 2024
I find him so reassuringly human, tenderly philosophizing as an appetizer to each poem he serves up. Wonderful audiobooks. Adding to the always checked out batch for deeper rethinking and consideration. The fireI wish to gaze intonon dark nights
November 6, 2021
Definitely go with audiobook. Whyte’s voice is so soothing and imaginative I am listening a second time.
December 1, 2021
excellent book. the sentence nr one for me - sometimes truth depends on a walk around the lake.
February 22, 2022
Some very insightful thoughts.
November 25, 2022
Had it as a CD. If you like David Whyte, its top stuff.
February 16, 2023
inspired to read more poetry!
June 22, 2023
I think my favorite of his books.
October 7, 2023
Note: This recording is excerpted from Clear Mind, Wild Heart. The longer version is well worth listening to.
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