As writers, artists, musicians, what have yous. We are all awaiting the muse to descend and make the creation of our individual artistry easier.
It took me years to realize, that ain’t gonna happen.
The muse does not descend on her/his/its own.
Not all the time. Sometimes not at all.
Like the quote from Blades of Glory about figure skating. “It’s like a cruel bitch mother, she’ll seduce you with chocolates and roses and then kick you to the side of the road like a dead raccoon!”
The muse has shown that it can be fickle at the best of times. Absent at the worst.
What can we do?
Chase it down.
Like courage, the muse must be pursued and captured.
In his Invocation for beginners Ze Frank said of courage. “Let me remember that my courage is a wild dog, it won’t just come when I call it. I have to chase it down and hold on as tight as I can.”
The same can be applied to the muse.
I said at the beginning of this blog that we all wait for the muse to descend. Some of us wait to create until the muse descends.
We can do that, but the amount of work we get done waiting for the muse to descend, to be inspired, depends on us.
Like I said the muse is a fickle thing. Inspiration strikes at the damndest times.
Picasso said. “Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.” He also said. “I do not seek. I find.”
Two great quotes. They inform you on how one of the great artists of our time worked.
Key word. Worked.
Work helps inspiration…
Careful. You’re veering into metaphorical territory.
I’ll tread as lightly as I can.
As I was saying, work helps inspiration. It helps you sort out the good ideas from the bad. The great from the mediocre.
Gordon B. Hinckley said. “Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds.”
I have a writing partner who works all the time, he’s a writer and a painter. He even writes when he’s sick as a dog. He once told me. “I write all the time. I paint all the time. I do this so that when inspiration hits me, I’ll be ready for it.”
Art, no matter what you do, requires a lot of hard work. If you want this to be a job, not a hobby, then you’ve signed up for a difficult task.
Put in the hours, it’ll be worth it.
BONUS FEATURE:
The Wayside 