How does inspiration work?
Have you ever wondered why inspiration strikes when it does? Or why we are all inspired by different experiences?
Maybe there really are muses who guide us to create our best work.
What is a muse?
According to the Oxford Dictionary, a muse is ‘a person or personified force who is the source of inspiration for a creative artist’. For me, it’s the voice in my head that tells me to wait, or go back, or do that thing I’m feeling uncertain about. I usually hear it when I’ve encountered something I haven’t taken the time to mindfully experience.
I’ve learned to listen to that voice because, whoever she is, she clearly knows best. Mindfulness makes room for thoughts and feelings that might otherwise never exist.
Why aren’t muses on duty all the time?
I’ve just spent ten days in Sardinia. I had read up on the area before setting off. And felt certain I would be finding book ideas soon after arriving. But I didn’t. I just didn’t feel it.
Across the sea in Corsica, ideas started to bubble to the surface. I didn’t know a lot about Corsica before I arrived. But I felt a lot when I got there. Mainly a mixture of excitement, wonder, curiosity, and fulfilment.
Authors are all different. What we have in common is the ability to create unique stories. As with any other type of career, we have to find the right role, the right place, the right inspiration, before we can truly shine.
It has to feel right.
So maybe muses are our intuition, identifying experiences we might filter out or overlook in this busy world. The experiences waiting for us to transform them into glorious stories.
That’s my take on the concept of a muse. What’s yours?
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Deborah Grant-Dudley 