Miss Honey May: Our First Muse of Mary Oliver May

There is validity to asking people to go deeper than aesthetic trends online, and God knows I write in that vein frequently. If we allow ourselves to take a step back and hold multiple perspectives, these #core trends also tell us what is resonating with a big portion of those online (*ahem, like us on Substack*…). Given that this is sort of the point of Bad Art Every Day aka looking more deeply and living by what resonates in the art and pop culture that we love, let’s take a look at Miss Honey from Matilda and see what this aesthetic may say more deeply to us.

Yes, I went to the original text

For the uninitiated, spoilers ahead. Miss Honey is the kind, simple, and poor teacher of Matilda. In fact, she is her first school teacher, and portrayed in the book as one of the main people who taught Matilda how to use her intelligence, be proud of it, and be cared for. What we later find out in the book is that Miss Honey has been carved into this thoughtful, kind person after surviving her own trauma at the hands of the terrifying school principal, Miss Trunchbull. She represents softness in the face of evil, and at the same time she grows up alongside Matilda with Matilda’s magical help in freeing Miss Honey from the power and financial straits she is held in. While Miss Honey saves Matilda and eventually adopts her, Matilda also saves Miss Honey by freeing her back first.

Beyond loving this book as a girl and loving the earthy, bright, caring life the aesthetic trend evokes, it strikes that this life story resonates with Mary Oliver’s own life story and poetry.

Seeing things as they are, and with a bit of magic, not from ignorance but from a need to focus on these parts of life to better survive the darkness and sorrow that exists as well.

Understanding the imagination, wonder, and devotion of a mind, and what good that might do in the world.

Living a life not understood in a world that optimizes power and traditional roles of women.

When it comes to deepening into art we love like we are with Mary Oliver this month, it can be helpful to experience it more by asking what this reminds us of, or what belongs to the world this Art evokes.

Today’s Poem: The Uses of Sorrow

(In my sleep I dreamed this poem)

Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness.

It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift.

Today’s Question to Ponder: Who else belongs in the Mary Oliver Universe, according to your own imagination? Why?

Today’s Mini Challenge: Find one small part of your home or your daily routine to simplify and make more beautiful by its simplicity. Perhaps it’s part of your routine or your home that 10 year old you would LOVE to know you now have access to.

See you tomorrow, friends. I hope today is a day that makes you good-tired.

xx,

Margaret