Maurice Sendak’s book was voted the best children’s book in a recent survey by the BBC. I was very touched by this short interview with the author Maurice Sendak, that seems to have been recorded not long before he died in 2012. There is so much in this short interview! For example, Maurice says he doesn’t understand why this book became THE book of his life. “What’s there in that book? I don’t know… Mystery.” I think this is so beautiful. Works of art of this quality are not created by our minds. They pour out from our hearts. And that’s how Maurice wrote Where the Wild Things Are, from the place of truth within all of us. And since everyone shares the same being, we can recognize truth with our hearts, while our mind doesn’t understand what’s going on.
How do you write a children’s book? I don’t even know what that is.
Maurice Sendak
In the interview, Maurice also wonders: “How do you write a children’s book? I don’t even know what that is.” I guess that he never really intended it to be for children, but he wrote it for his own inner child, to express what it was like to be a little boy. To fully honor who he was as a child. And he makes a good point – is a book like this, really just for children? Or, is it a reminder for all of us, that inside we always remain the children we once were. When I read this book to my own children they weren’t that impressed, but I was blown away by it!
What makes this also such a beautiful book, is that he was a writer-illustrator. Maurice could pour his heart straight into the drawings, without having to communicate with an illustrator. He creates such a beautiful atmosphere, with incredible emotional expression of the characters, it’s really in a category of its own.
Here is an attempt to describe what I see in this book. Of course, like with all art, there are many ways to look at it.
Like all children, Max let’s his wildness run free. No rules! And it clashes with the world around him. In this case it clashes with this mother, who tells him WILD THING! And a defiant Max shouts back: I’LL EAT YOU UP! Max is then sent to his room, with a defiant look still on this face. For a while in our lives, we are kings of our imagination. We can play with our dreams. Max just imagines the world around him and he conjures up a boat and leaves. Time dissolves as he turns inwards, travels into his subconscious, and he meets his wild and angry emotions. He meets those wild things that do not wish to be tamed, that wish to be free.
And once there, he naturally knows what to do. He stares them down. He sees the wild things for what they truly are, and by doing so he becomes their master. They hold no real power, only the power that Max gives them. But he is not a tyrant king that suppresses them. He is a good king, and he sets them free and let’s them run wild. He allows them fully, until they naturally come to an end. Max is like a true tantric master.
Then, anger subsides, and there is space. And in that space, there is love. Max remembers those that love him, and he longs for his mother. But when he leaves, the emotions, although exhausted, want to grab him and keep him there. A firm decision is needed by the king to leave, and return to the world. Max knows that he will come back, and the wild things know that too, and let him go.
Max’s return from defiance to love, is answered in the real world and his warm supper is there waiting for him. It’s his mother’s way of saying to him: “We may fight my little max, but I will always love you, no matter what”.
So, what does all this mean? Emotions are not problems to be suppressed. Like Max, we just need to find a way to let our emotions run their course. To honor them, by seeing them, and expressing them. And when the energy can move, it relaxes and love blossoms. If we suppress the wild things in us, we give them the power to rule us, but if we allow them, we rule them. There are many ways to express our wildness and anger. It doesn’t matter how, as long as we do it.
Because in truth, the wild things don’t want to run our lives. They just want our attention, which is another way of saying, they want our love. Like children, they just want to be seen and held, for a little while. But if we ignore them, they will rebel and overtake the throne at unexpected times. Until that day when we finally take notice, and go on our dream boat to meet them.
The book is such a masterpiece in its simplicity. Look how many words I needed to describe it! And the book only has 338 words.
Why is my needle somehow stuck in childhood, I don’t know… I guess that’s where my heart is
Maurice Sendak
If you are interested in knowing more about the author, there is another beautiful interview with Maurice here. It seems to me Maurice knew everything, while claiming to know nothing. He says “Why is my needle somehow stuck in childhood, I don’t know… I guess that’s where my heart is”.
That seems so true to me. The child we were, and our hearts, they are not two different things. Our inner child is our heart. And that’s where love can be found. The connection to our childhood is the doorway to our heart, and our being. The qualities of the child, curiosity, enthusiasm, joy, playfulness – these are the divine qualities. It makes me sad sometimes, having lost the connection to my inner child for so long. But there is good news: that little boy or girl inside never aged, and is waiting for us to return!
Image credits: Where the Wild Things Are copyright © 1963, renewed 1991, by Maurice Sendak