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Winnowing: A Memoir of Spiritual Longing in Secular Life
When life unravels, what remains may yet delight.
Kira Higgs had a promising career, a welcoming home, carefully tended relationships; by all conventional measures she had mastered the art of life.
But when she notices cracks in the foundation, she embarks on a very different one that dismantles what she thought she knew, and reveals something deeper in the process.
A Memoir of Sacred Longings in Secular Life is about how spiritual growth rarely presents itself in the form we expect.
A driven and curious child, a young Higgs received unfulfilling answers to what seemed a simple how can we truly know there’s such a thing as a god, beyond taking it on faith? So began a lifelong pursuit to understand the true nature of things — both visible and unseen. Even when she set certain questions aside, life-altering events fueled her curiosity.
Secularity soon met spirituality.
Through meditation practices that quietly opened inner doorways, encounters that stretched the boundaries of perception, and the patient surrender of identities she once clung to, Higgs discovers how the simplest truths can be the most profound, and how our perceptions of reality change when we remove the blinders of convention.
This is a memoir about long-term inner work, and the slow integration of a spiritual life within a demanding professional one. It’s a book of experiences, not moments that shifted perceptions, broke patterns, and revealed deeper layers of reality. It reveals how inner change actually not through a single watershed moment or dramatic revelation, but through small, cumulative pivots.
It explores meditation not as a prescription but as a laboratory. Some encounters open the door to deeper awareness; others dismantle parts of the identity that no longer work. There’s no doctrine, no dogma, just an exploration of seeing clearly, letting go of unhelpful structures, and navigating life with more attention and less resistance.
It’s about integrating the inner and outer life, the contemplative and the worldly, the self that strives and the self that listens; a divide that many, including Higgs, have struggled with. But through her lived example, she shares how these two halves can combine to create a life shaped by the leading of the spirit.
With gentle humor and hard-won wisdom, Winnowing invites readers to reconsider that which feels like loss as a key that unlocks transformation.
Kira Higgs had a promising career, a welcoming home, carefully tended relationships; by all conventional measures she had mastered the art of life.
But when she notices cracks in the foundation, she embarks on a very different one that dismantles what she thought she knew, and reveals something deeper in the process.
A Memoir of Sacred Longings in Secular Life is about how spiritual growth rarely presents itself in the form we expect.
A driven and curious child, a young Higgs received unfulfilling answers to what seemed a simple how can we truly know there’s such a thing as a god, beyond taking it on faith? So began a lifelong pursuit to understand the true nature of things — both visible and unseen. Even when she set certain questions aside, life-altering events fueled her curiosity.
Secularity soon met spirituality.
Through meditation practices that quietly opened inner doorways, encounters that stretched the boundaries of perception, and the patient surrender of identities she once clung to, Higgs discovers how the simplest truths can be the most profound, and how our perceptions of reality change when we remove the blinders of convention.
This is a memoir about long-term inner work, and the slow integration of a spiritual life within a demanding professional one. It’s a book of experiences, not moments that shifted perceptions, broke patterns, and revealed deeper layers of reality. It reveals how inner change actually not through a single watershed moment or dramatic revelation, but through small, cumulative pivots.
It explores meditation not as a prescription but as a laboratory. Some encounters open the door to deeper awareness; others dismantle parts of the identity that no longer work. There’s no doctrine, no dogma, just an exploration of seeing clearly, letting go of unhelpful structures, and navigating life with more attention and less resistance.
It’s about integrating the inner and outer life, the contemplative and the worldly, the self that strives and the self that listens; a divide that many, including Higgs, have struggled with. But through her lived example, she shares how these two halves can combine to create a life shaped by the leading of the spirit.
With gentle humor and hard-won wisdom, Winnowing invites readers to reconsider that which feels like loss as a key that unlocks transformation.
302 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 1, 2026
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2 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 2, 2026
While I don’t consider myself a spiritual person, I found this book compelling on many levels.
- It’s courageous: sharing this kind of personal and intimate journey takes hutzpah, gumption, and a generous spirit. Why choose personal inquiry when we have so many other distractions? Because maybe what I share will help or affirm someone else? We could use more of this intent in our current world.
- It’s elegant: The prose is rich and sonorous. The structure is appealing and inviting. Even the formatting and style make it impressive and artful. (Caveat: I’m a big reader. I appreciate good writing!)
- It’s accessible: I’ve always thought I should be more spiritual. I’ve often wondered why I’ve never embarked on some kind of personal spiritual journey. In my younger years I read Pema Chödrön, Thich Nhat Hanh, and other authors sharing profound thoughts, yet I never felt “evolved” enough to follow the paths they subscribed. This book is DIFFERENT - and appeals to those of us not currently on a spiritual path.
- It’s invitational: I’ve been reluctant to embark on the seeker’s path in any kind of meaningful way. (I had no kind of religious training). This book, however, invited me to explore and access the “angels” in my life. It offered me a way to seek the grace that has been offered to me. Since reading the book, I’ve had many dreams about my deceased mother. She just shows up, and I’m so happy to see her, despite our tumultuous history.
After reading this intimate and captivating memoir, I now realize I’ve been limiting my field of vision. I feel ready to open my eyes and heart.
- It’s courageous: sharing this kind of personal and intimate journey takes hutzpah, gumption, and a generous spirit. Why choose personal inquiry when we have so many other distractions? Because maybe what I share will help or affirm someone else? We could use more of this intent in our current world.
- It’s elegant: The prose is rich and sonorous. The structure is appealing and inviting. Even the formatting and style make it impressive and artful. (Caveat: I’m a big reader. I appreciate good writing!)
- It’s accessible: I’ve always thought I should be more spiritual. I’ve often wondered why I’ve never embarked on some kind of personal spiritual journey. In my younger years I read Pema Chödrön, Thich Nhat Hanh, and other authors sharing profound thoughts, yet I never felt “evolved” enough to follow the paths they subscribed. This book is DIFFERENT - and appeals to those of us not currently on a spiritual path.
- It’s invitational: I’ve been reluctant to embark on the seeker’s path in any kind of meaningful way. (I had no kind of religious training). This book, however, invited me to explore and access the “angels” in my life. It offered me a way to seek the grace that has been offered to me. Since reading the book, I’ve had many dreams about my deceased mother. She just shows up, and I’m so happy to see her, despite our tumultuous history.
After reading this intimate and captivating memoir, I now realize I’ve been limiting my field of vision. I feel ready to open my eyes and heart.
March 6, 2026
I was drawn to Kira Higgs's book, Winnowing, because her journey was so real, so visceral. As someone with a personal meditation practice, I was interested in what brought her to the cushion and how that informed her life thereafter. I was deeply affected by the vulnerability that Higgs shared, her willingness to pull the curtain away from some difficult moments in her career and her relationships. The specifics that she writes about bring her journey into clear focus, so that the reader can more fully understand the power of her meditation practice. Higgs doesn't present her memoir as a "how to" but rather a "why to" and thus appeals to the curious seeker without pretense. I was touched by so many of her anecdotes, but one in particular stood out: dealing with her father, with whom she had been a bit more than slightly estranged, in his dying days. As the image of winnowing implies, there was a releasing, a letting go of the constraints that had impacted their relationship, and Higgs was able to be more present and bring curiosity rather than judgment to this moment. This example is just one of many powerful turns in the Higgs's path.
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March 4, 2026Celebrating the release of Kira Higgs’ debut memoir, Winnowing, a beautiful reflection on spiritual longing in modern life.
Kira's dedicated meditation practice has informed her understanding of perception, transformation, and the subtle ways a life rearranges itself from within. Kira writes from lived experience rather than instruction, a contemplative sensibility, and a commitment to the truths that emerge when one searches inside and pays attention. Her work with teachers, students, and fellow practitioners across traditions has deepened her appreciation for both the mystery and the practicality of spiritual development. It was a joy to follow her progress on her very meaningful journey.
Kira's dedicated meditation practice has informed her understanding of perception, transformation, and the subtle ways a life rearranges itself from within. Kira writes from lived experience rather than instruction, a contemplative sensibility, and a commitment to the truths that emerge when one searches inside and pays attention. Her work with teachers, students, and fellow practitioners across traditions has deepened her appreciation for both the mystery and the practicality of spiritual development. It was a joy to follow her progress on her very meaningful journey.
March 2, 2026
I received an advance reader copy and also purchased a paperback copy upon release. My opinions are my own.
I confess that I'm not the sort of person who normally reads a spiritual memoir like this, but I kept returning to it. The author seeks a spiritual life while living in a largely secular world. She begins to find it, but doesn't shy away from her own faults and struggles. It made me feel like I could honestly question my life and choices too, but in a nonjudgmental way. I also recommended the book to a friend, who is trying to find her way right now.
I confess that I'm not the sort of person who normally reads a spiritual memoir like this, but I kept returning to it. The author seeks a spiritual life while living in a largely secular world. She begins to find it, but doesn't shy away from her own faults and struggles. It made me feel like I could honestly question my life and choices too, but in a nonjudgmental way. I also recommended the book to a friend, who is trying to find her way right now.
March 11, 2026
An honest, beautiful, and inspiring meditation on spiritual seeking and finding. Through a montage of life moments, realisations, and breaks in the structures and strictures of daily life and mental identity, the author’s words manage to communicate what is usually beyond words—a sense of awe, mystery, and the numinous. I found myself totally engrossed, re-examining my own life experiences as the author journeyed through hers.
March 3, 2026
I like the clear eyed writing style of this writer. Telling it like it is, good pacing and structure in each chapter. Interesting big and small life events building towards more and more clarity and ease of living. This book is not instructional at all but it did leave me with something I am glad to have.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews