"THE MUSE"

                                                 

                                                  Finding Inspiration

          As I sat in Sunday school last week, studying the lesson, the topic was Finding Inspiration. When I noticed it, I immediately thought how great this would be as a topic of discussion for a blog subject and jotted it down before I forgot.

          I’m not distracted often during Sunday service nor do I make a habit of jotting down notes, especially when I’m supposed to be listening while the pastor is trying to teach us something. Nevertheless, when inspiration presents itself, I can’t ignore it and do what comes natural as a writer.

          Because there are times when I’ve got nothing to talk about and wonder where my next idea will come from. I’m scrambling and picking through the storage bins of my brain for anything worthy of conversation.

I’m basically searching for anything that will spark inspiration.  Generally, it doesn’t occur through osmosis while I’m sleeping. Although, there have been plenty of times, that I’ve dreamt and been inspired to write a great story.

           Then, there were other times I gained inspiration from a great book, or a movie.  I don’t watch a lot of television but when I do, it gives me a vast variety of ideas to work with and soak them up like a sponge.  

          Speaking of movies, there was one that came out back in the nineties, called “The Muse”.  Now I wasn’t all that impressed with it to be honest and found it to be a bit cheesy for my taste but still amusing in an offbeat sort of way.  

          But I totally got the premise of what this story depicted. When your store houses are empty you need something to motivate and stimulate you in being creative. In this situation the artist was literally grasping at straws for anything inspiring that would arouse his creative prowess and cause ideas to flow back into his think tank.

Personally, I don’t have a muse. Yet I’m often inspired by reading, and through conversation or music. Sometimes it comes so unexpectedly that I don’t even realize that it’s taking place.  When it does, I jot it down.

Even if it’s only a word, or a phrase. Everything has potential for any individual who possess a creative mind. It might seem like scribble scrabble to anyone else, but there is a method to your madness if you are a creative genius.

Many other artist, who I’ve had the pleasure of holding long conversations with said that they sometimes gain inspiration from events that takes place in their lives or someone else’s. They aren’t picky about the source of information simply thankful for when motivation does come that they have something that fans the flames of their imagination.

          I’m not complaining either, because I’ve gone through enough dry spells where nothing was going on inside my head. There were no industrious wheels of creativity turning. In fact, it was so barren and quiet, that I believed I could almost hear crickets.

 After a few times of sifting through brain dust I learned to appreciate my own private form of muse. This is good, especially for a writer who depends on great storytelling as a source of income.

          Muses doesn’t always come by means of commonality. They are sometimes diverse as we are as humans. In different varieties. Not always as we expect, but I am so glad that they do exist and help us to find our source of inspiration.