Julia, this post is dedicated to you!
You may have noticed in my recent comments, Julia said this:
"- my Muse was sighted impersonating Elvis at the Holiday Inn! There's hope!"
To which I replied, "You should be a comedian! ha!"
Upon further thought, I meandered along the cyber highway once again stopping at the free dictionary to get a feel for the word "muse."
As a verb, muse means:
To be absorbed in one's thoughts; engage in meditation.To consider or say thoughtfully: mused that it might take longer to drive than walk.
A state of meditation.
According to the Thesaurus, as a noun,
muse is the source of an artist's inspiration; "Euterpe was his muse."
And, when used as a verb,
muse reflects deeply on a subject; "I mulled over the events of the afternoon"; "philosophers have speculated on the question of God for thousands of years"; "The scientist must stop to observe and start to excogitate."
Julia, you really got me to thinking. What exactly is my muse? Hmm.... Let's see.... Well.... Um.... I think I might have many muses. Why not? Can't we have many muses? Shouldn't we have many muses?
As a verb, I guess I could say my muse overwhelms me in the still of the night, when silence reigns and inspiration leads to many manuscripts ;0)
As a noun, I'd say my many muses are my parents, my grandparents (although deceased, my memories with them bring endless inspiration), friends, the sun, the sky, my thinking tree, Spring, Fall, (my two favorite seasons), extended family, perhaps even a stranger that says or does something to spark my thoughts, my second grade teacher for telling me, "Michele, when you grow up, you're going to be a writer!", my friend, Renie Burghardt, other freelance writers that have "made it", Maya Angelou, Becca, Rebecca, Amy, a "non blogger friend, Michelle," and yes, even you, Julia--you inspired this very post! I could go on, as I find inspiration for stories by just living and breathing and paying attention to what/who is around me.
There are days I wonder if my muse is on vacation, though. Sometimes, even as my favorite time for writing (late at night) envelops me with its peace, I stare at a blank computer screen simply too tired and uninspired to type a sentence. Not necessarily because I'm clueless about what to write because the possibilities are endless, sometimes the mind just needs a good rest. After all, it works awfully hard for us!
But, there is always hope. With each new day (or night), there is a new opportunity for us to steal away and create with our words and do something no one else can--leave a piece of our heart with our readers.
So, be encouraged, Julia. If you have to, kidnap your muse away from the Holiday Inn!
What do you think, folks? Do you only have one muse? Or do you totally feel uninspired?
Think about it, perhaps even leave a comment, and may you find your muse as you write the cyber highway!
Note, in the text, the reference to http://www.thefreedictionary.com/muse
