Mastery or Mystery

The honeycomb. After a weekend of synchronicity with the word popping up simultaneously in music and word, I decided to explore for lessons on space. This has not been a visual exploration but then neither have our most enduring images of honeycombs been visual. Creation, pleasure, pain, desire, divinity, lust, love, indulgence and industry have all been associated with the honeycomb and its creators since humankind began. Images of mystery and contradiction.

So what did the exploring reveal? Lots and lots about the history and science and present bad news on bees and honey. But it was the random that yielded the most interesting lessons.

Searching the Seattle Public Library for books with honeycomb in the title, I also found a book of poetry “Sea and the Honeycomb” edited by Robert Bly, an autobiography “The Honeycomb” about the fascinating life of one of the first women news reporters Adela Rogers St. Johns and “The Golden Honeycomb,” Vincent Cronin’s loving account of Sicily. What is so strange and wonderful is that each of these books reflect that mystery and contradiction found in the images of the honeycomb. The mystery is there in honoring the story with all its uncertainties, leaving the reader with more questions than answers. And each embrace the contradictions in life. Darkness preceding light. Earthiness alongside transcendence.

As mastery of the honeycomb has brought us to a crisis in the health of the hive, so too, mastering a space produces a sterile, dead space. So let there be mystery. And contradiction. Go beyond the literal honeycomb wallpaper accent wall. Put up  seductive wallpaper in the bedroom closet. Create a vignette with your favorite things that only have you in common. Buy impulsively. There is mystery and contradiction to your choices. Leave it that way. Follow your heart and your space will be enjoyed and loved for its uniqueness and its images of the deeper ideas you cherish.

I leave you with the poem by Antonio Machado that gave the title to the book of poetry “Sea and the Honeycomb.” Mystery and contradiction in four lines.

Now the flowering mountain,                                                                                               The immense ocean is seething.                                                                                                        In the comb of my honey bees,                                                                                           There are tiny grains of salt.

Translated by Robert Bly