Marie Howe, an award-winning poet known for her poignant exploration of loss and spirituality, shares her insights on the moral life and the power of language. She reflects on her brother’s death and how poetry serves as a healing medium. The conversation touches on the significance of family dynamics, the influence of a Catholic upbringing, and how art can transform pain into beauty. Howe also delves into the essence of Mary Magdalene, examining themes of identity and acceptance through the lens of history and scripture.
Marie Howe articulates that the moral life is reflected equally in our words and actions, emphasizing the power of language in shaping experience.
The podcast highlights the critical role of ordinary experiences, revealing how daily rituals can provide profound insights into relationships and the passage of time.
Family dynamics are explored as essential to personal identity, demonstrating how love and loss within familial bonds shape our understanding of ourselves and others.
Deep dives
The Poetry Radio Project
The podcast introduces a unique initiative that consolidates poetry shared by various guests reflecting on life's mysteries and meanings into a dedicated platform. This collection includes voices of notable poets like Mary Oliver and David Whyte, allowing listeners to engage deeply with their works. By providing access to these poems, the project aims to enhance listeners’ understanding of the human experience through the lens of poetry. This approach highlights the powerful connection between artistic expression and personal insight, inviting the audience to explore their own interpretations and feelings.
The Role of the Templeton Foundation
The Templeton Foundation, which supports On Being, focuses on stimulating academic research and dialogue regarding profound questions of existence, such as human identity and purpose. Their mission encourages exploration of themes that challenge conventional thinking and inspire curiosity about life’s complexities. By backing initiatives like On Being, the Foundation emphasizes the importance of connecting various perspectives on life’s most challenging inquiries. This relationship fosters a space where challenging ideas can be discussed freely and openly, enhancing the dialogue about spirituality and understanding.
The Power of Ordinary Life
The conversation touches upon the significance of ordinary experiences, suggesting that these moments often hold the deepest meanings in our lives. The narrative of a mother’s life, filled with mundane errands, becomes a profound reflection on the passage of time and relationships. In particular, the joy found in daily routines underscores the beauty of connection and being present with loved ones. This perspective serves as a reminder to cherish the simplicity of everyday moments as they build the fabric of our lives.
Family and Connection
Family dynamics play a critical role in shaping identity and personal experience, as the discussion reveals. The speaker reflects on their own large family background, illustrating how different personalities and interactions contribute to a rich tapestry of relationships. While recounting stories of love and complexity within the family, themes of loss and connection emerge as central to navigating life’s challenges. This exploration of familial bonds emphasizes the shared narratives that resonate across generations, fostering a sense of belonging and understanding.
Art as Emotional Reflection
The value of art and poetry emerges as a central theme, positing that these mediums enable us to confront and process our emotions. The conversation highlights how poetry captures the intricacies of human experience, revealing both vulnerability and resilience. By engaging with artistic expressions, individuals can find solace and connection in shared experiences of suffering and joy. This facilitates a deeper understanding of one's own journey, illustrating the universal need for connection through creativity.
The Nature of Wisdom
The dialogue emphasizes that wisdom is often gained through embracing imperfection and vulnerability throughout life. Unavoidable challenges, such as loss and emotional pain, become catalysts for growth and understanding, pushing individuals toward a more profound comprehension of life. By recognizing and accepting flaws, one can cultivate more authentic connections with others, fostering a sense of shared humanity. This perspective shifts the focus from seeking perfection to valuing the lessons learned from life's unpredictable journey.
The moral life, Marie Howe says, is lived out in what we say as much as what we do. She became known for her poetry collection “What the Living Do,” about her brother’s death at 28 from AIDS. Now she has a new book, “Magdalene.” Poetry is her exuberant and open-hearted way into the words and the silences we live by. She works and plays with a Catholic upbringing, the universal drama of family, the ordinary rituals that sustain us — and how language, again and again, has a power to save us. This interview is edited and produced with music and other features in the On Being episode “Marie Howe — The Power of Words to Save Us.” Find more at onbeing.org.
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![[Unedited] Marie Howe with Krista Tippett](https://onbeing.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/1500x1500_OnBeing_EpisodeArtwork.jpg?resize=320,320)
