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Homing: A Quest to Care for Myself and the Earth
A memoir about abandoning an exhausting commuter lifestyle to move to a cabin in the woods, embracing imperfection while cultivating a life of care for self and nature.
Alice Irene Whittaker was addicted to productivity, perfectionism, and discipline. She was used to rushing between multiple jobs, her demanding ballet training, and volunteering for social justice causes, making sure that every single moment of her day was accounted for. But then she finds herself as a new mother, commuting four hours a day into the city and exhausted by the state of the world and paralyzed by climate guilt and anxiety. Something has got to give. Overnight, Alice Irene and her husband decide to retreat to a cabin in the woods, in search of a new kind of life.
Surrounded by creek, meadow, and forest, Alice Irene begins a new lifelong journey of repairing her fractured relationship with both herself and the natural world. Dismantling a history of anorexia, obsessiveness, and workaholism, she decides to stop taking and start caretaking. But how can she take care of nature if she cannot treat herself with care?
Braiding together her personal journey with the stories of others who are tending to the Earth, Alice Irene Whittaker has crafted a lyrical, relatable memoir about regeneration and moving from a life of despair to a life of care. Searching for the spaces between the sorrow of wildfires and the beauty of wildflowers, Homing is about returning home to our bodies, geographies, communities, and place, all as a part of nature.
Alice Irene Whittaker was addicted to productivity, perfectionism, and discipline. She was used to rushing between multiple jobs, her demanding ballet training, and volunteering for social justice causes, making sure that every single moment of her day was accounted for. But then she finds herself as a new mother, commuting four hours a day into the city and exhausted by the state of the world and paralyzed by climate guilt and anxiety. Something has got to give. Overnight, Alice Irene and her husband decide to retreat to a cabin in the woods, in search of a new kind of life.
Surrounded by creek, meadow, and forest, Alice Irene begins a new lifelong journey of repairing her fractured relationship with both herself and the natural world. Dismantling a history of anorexia, obsessiveness, and workaholism, she decides to stop taking and start caretaking. But how can she take care of nature if she cannot treat herself with care?
Braiding together her personal journey with the stories of others who are tending to the Earth, Alice Irene Whittaker has crafted a lyrical, relatable memoir about regeneration and moving from a life of despair to a life of care. Searching for the spaces between the sorrow of wildfires and the beauty of wildflowers, Homing is about returning home to our bodies, geographies, communities, and place, all as a part of nature.
300 pages, Paperback
Published September 3, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 4, 2025
An absolute delight!
Read
October 3, 2024This is like Wendell Berry meets Robin Wall Kimmerer meets Henry David Thoreau meets Helen Humphreys meets Barbara Kingsolver. Sprinkled with little quotes from the likes of Mary Oliver and Rachel Carson.
This feels like a collection of articles that might have appeared in Harrowsmith magazine way back in the day (or apparently even today, as it seems to still be in publication). I’m past those days in my life.
Thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for granting me access to an early digital copy. Apologies for the delay in getting this post up.
DNF
This feels like a collection of articles that might have appeared in Harrowsmith magazine way back in the day (or apparently even today, as it seems to still be in publication). I’m past those days in my life.
Thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for granting me access to an early digital copy. Apologies for the delay in getting this post up.
DNF
May 28, 2025
Homing is a treat! I learned a lot of practical takeaways about caring for the earth, and reading this memoir also felt personally cathartic.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews