Muse over this

I never heard of Joan Hunter Dunn until Thursday, when she died.

It could be that no one else would have, either, were it not for a chance meeting.

And, then, as they say, the rest is history.

Dunn was a caterer in Britain's Ministry of Information when in walked poet John Betjeman (whom I'd never heard of before Thursday, either). He was so smitten with her beauty — a wholesome beauty with sparkling eyes, even features, a wide smile and a dimple in one cheek, according to the Associated Press — that he immortalized her in his most popular poem: "A Subaltern's Love Song." They were never lovers, but were lifelong friends.

"She induced in him a feeling of happiness and well being that permeates through a lot of his work," John Heald, chairman of the Betjeman Society, said. "She was certainly his muse as far as that poem was concerned — he rather liked attractive women."

The idea of a muse is an interesting one; Wombat of Kiss 'n Blog posed the question, who is my muse? not too long ago. A few of us called him to task on it, though, because he seemed like he was looking for someone to do his grunge work, or perhaps a wife. (and they're not one and the same!).

But I wondered if a muse — "a source of inspiration," according to to Merriam Webster dictionary — wouldn't make a great wife, or a husband, for that matter. Because when you think about it, shouldn't your partner be "a source of inspiration" or, as it was for Betjeman, a person who induces a feeling of "happiness and well being" (and that's very different that being responsible for your happiness and well being).

After my divorce, when I started to clarify for myself who I am and who I'd want to be with, I realized that the love I seek is one that expands me, challenges me, makes me be a better person. And now, I'll add, inspires me.

So, I thought that would be a cool thing to a put out there in the online world, and then I came upon this and this.

Sigh.

It's hard to be a muse nowadays ....

Do you want your partner to be a muse, too?