Mary Oliver: “Joy is Not Made to Be a Crumb”
© Rachel Giese Brown
“Don’t Hesitate,” a Mary Oliver Poem
In her poem ‘Don’t Hesitate,’ Mary Oliver opens by writing, “If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, / don’t hesitate. Give into it.”
Mary Oliver later writes about how much destruction there is in the world, and how unwise and unkind we can be to each other.
As I type this, the planet warms. Wars rage across the globe. We live in dangerous times — some fear for their lives, and many more are losing their lives en mass to natural disasters, conflict, and more.
Despite everything, Mary Oliver’s poem states that “life has some possibility yet.” This optimistic view may be hard to reconcile in trying times.
Emotions are High Right Now
In todays world, emotions are high right now.
And emotional experience is multifaceted.
However, to find kernels of joy in the most unlikely of circumstances is possible.
And joy, like any emotion, isn’t something you have to pressure yourself to experience: no emotion is ever-present.
Like waves, each may emerge and recede, as a new one swells into existence.
Joy can come in moments and — amid the chaos and instability of this world — can still play a part in our lives, even if it only briefly arises and falls again as we return to the work we need to do.
Laughter Can Be a Radical Act
No matter how angry or afraid we are, laughter can still occur. In that way, perhaps, like passionate action, laughter can be a radical act.
Despite global destruction, babies are born.
People graduate and write poems and sing to the trees.
People find lovers and reunite with families. Yes, the world is in a dire state.
Yes, there’s an incalculable amount of grief. And yes, we each need to take action and do the work we need to do to care for ourselves and each other.
However, there is still joy to be had and joy to be shared, even if it’s just cooking a meal for a loved one or group of friends and sharing a moment together or telling an anecdote or a joke that brings us solace, however brief.
At the end ‘Don’t Hesitate’, Mary Oliver writes, “Joy is not made to be a crumb.” To experience joy, then, is to notice its abundance and to allow it to enact in us.
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“If not a crumb,” — I discuss with Rachael in our latest The Poetry Vessel Podcast on the Nathan Hassall Poetry YouTube channel — “perhaps we can think of it as a whole loaf.”
We can still experience joy in this unstable world, and there is room for it amidst other positive or negative emotions.
When we experience joy, we can treat it like a loaf, break some of it off and offer to share it with others.
I understand this post might appear optimistic or unrealistic, but — even if we may be guided by the possibility of joy or its occasional emergence — we can get the necessary energy to keep going.
With love,
Nathan
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