An Interview with Honey Lea Gaydos

Honey Lea Gaydos is a writer, visual artist, and professional nurse specializing in mental health. Combining all these interests, she developed an innovative research approach using visual art to explore self-defining memories earning a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies. In her career as a professor of nursing, she promoted the use of the arts in healthcare environments and advocated a holistic approach to care. Her emotionally evocative artwork has been sold for many years through galleries and exhibitions. Her writing includes scholarly publications, essays and poetry, and a spiritual memoir, Patterns: The Mystical Journey of an Ordinary Life.

Now retired from academia, Honey Lea Gaydos continues to pursue interdisciplinary study of the intersections among psychology, mythology, spirituality, creativity, and the history and philosophy of science. She lives in Manitou Springs, Colorado, where she writes and makes art in her High Country Studio.

Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

The title was the last thing I wrote. When I started writing, I had no idea exactly what I was writing. When I started doing the artwork to accompany the writing, I realized that the idea of life as patterns informed both the art and the writing. My first titles were too academic, which is not all that surprising since that is the kind of writing I used to do. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the period described by my memoir was about mystical experiences in an otherwise ordinary life, if, in truth, any life can be called ordinary. So, I played with those words—”patterns,” “mystical,” and “ordinary life”—until they found their own order: Patterns: The Mystical Journey of an Ordinary Life.

How did it feel when you first saw your book cover? Or when you first held your book in your hands?

I actually did the artwork for the cover, so it was not a surprise to me. But it was so satisfying to see the graphic design layout put together with my image. The graphic arts department is wonderful to work with. I had such fun seeing my options and working with the Atmosphere Press art director.

Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

I had no intention of writing anything. I was deeply immersed in my painting and other artwork. But one day, I walked into my studio and felt like I was in the wrong place. So, I went out to my office and sat at my desk, taking stock of my feelings. I realized I needed to be there, at my desk, writing memories. I had no preconceived ideas about what I was doing. I am a big reader, especially of memoir. And, more significantly, I am an advanced practice mental health nurse, and my whole life has been spent hearing other peoples’ life stories. I am drawn to oral histories as told by those who lived the experience. And the way memory works to help each of us construct a personal mythology is a source of endless fascination. I suppose it is no wonder, I wrote a memoir though I am, by nature, a very private person. It continues to surprise me that I did.

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

My life has been devoted to nursing, teaching, and doing art. Each decade has focused more or less on at least one of these. But in each of these endeavors, really, it is learning and helping others that drives me. Looking back at various “vision boards” I’ve done over the years, there is a common pattern to my desires: learning, creating, relating. In all of these, I strive for beauty in the sense of harmony of proportion, color, and form, but not perfection and not static balance. I like give and take, push and pull, straight lines and graceful curves in the knowledge I pursue, the creative work I do, and the relationships that form the backbone of my life.

What was the most rewarding/meaningful part of publishing your book?

Giving voice to the memories asking to be heard and reflecting on their meaning in my life both in their historical context and in my current life are the most rewarding aspects of doing this writing. To see these in a book, a real and beautifully constructed book, astonished me! And I have to say, developing new relationships with each person who helped to make this happen, and keeps helping to get my book in the world, has been so rewarding. I am so glad I went with Atmosphere Press out of all the hybrid publishers I researched. Every single person has been kind, caring, and competent.

If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?

Oh my gosh! Now I am in big trouble with this question because I tend to listen to the same things over and over and nothing that is very new. But Diane Arkenstone’s “Morning in Paradise” would have to be one of them. And of course, two major musical actors in my book are Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor and Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain.”

What is one thing you hope readers take away from reading your book? How do you envision your perfect reader?

My hope is that readers will consider their own memories of extraordinary experiences and find meaning in them that matters in their current lives. I also hope they will find beauty and maybe a new idea or two.

What new writing projects are you currently working on? Or, other projects that are not writing?

I have a gallery show of my handmade, interactive journals coming up in November of 2025, so I am diligently working on those. I am writing some new essays that might make their way into a cohesive group. And I am making several commonplace books to accompany my current reading interests. I also do a bit of editing for nurse researchers in Norway. This is tons of fun and keeps me on my toes. Written English is a very strange animal.

How was working with Atmosphere Press? What would you tell other writers who want to publish?

I love Atmosphere Press! I couldn’t be happier with my experience. I would tell other writers that I think the hybrid publishing model is preferable to the traditional publishing industry because I would never want to give away my copyright and control of the publishing process to people who are necessarily less interested in me and my work than I am. I would tell them to go only with a completely transparent hybrid publisher and to avoid self-publishing even though parts of the process can be bought piecemeal online. There really is no substitute for competence and a transparent and comprehensive publishing company that is dedicated to an author’s rights and success as well as their own. In other words, I would tell them (and have told several folks) to go with Atmosphere Press.

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