“I do not think of the Muses as deities
but as personifications of a state of mind that an artist must tap…”
~Steven Pressfield
I’m here to explain to you what a muse is. Raise your hand, sweethearts, if you know what a Muse is.
Oh, never mind, cuz I’m going to tell you anyway. Plus I can’t see your hands.
The ancient Greeks were LAZY. Instead of tryin’ to figure things out that they didn’t understand, they made up stories called Greek Mythology It’s a mystery where creative ideas come from, do they arrive outa the blue? Does what we eat make a difference? Are they in specially marked boxes of Cocopuffs? Since thy are kinda a mystery, the Greeks invented a myth about that.
Here it is:
Zeus was the sky and thunder god, who ruled Mount Olympus; that’s Greece’s highest mountain. He musta been some kinda STUD because he hooked up with a lot of the goddesses. And I bet there was a lot of paternity suits to answer for.
One of the goddesses he made it with was Mnemosyne, her name has a similar spelling as Mnemonic (knee-mon-ick) a memory device because she is the Goddess of memory. She had nine girls with Zeus. Imagine that! Nine girls running around all about the same age. WHAT A MYTH! But they were not just your run of the mill goddesses posing for paintings and what not; they were MUSES. They showed-up to artists, poets, dancers, and even historians to inspire them. Most of them had hard to pronounce names that I’m not even going to attempt because it gets my tongue all disturbed.
THIS was the explanation about where you get Ideas. When someone was inspired it was believed it was because a Muse visited. You’d know this if you saw Shakespeare in Love.
Since Mnemosyne was the Broad of Memory you can correctly ascertain that muses help people REMEMBER who they are because there’s been a lot of crap in life makes them forget. You, for instance, may have forgotten how truly amazingly creative you are. That just makes me sad.
The original Greek Muses have no clue how to inspire these mortals, reminders aren’t enough when you’re dealing with with cell phones, and internet; Hulu and Netflix, Pinterest, Instagram, Youtube, ,Ebay ,Facebook, Twitter, cat videos, reruns from the 70s, gluten allergies and the Kardashians.
All the ancient Greeks had to deal with was philosophy, war, and bloating from all that hummus.
These days a little more chutzpah is necessary to get troo to the mortal’s brain than just being reminded. It requires selling! The modern day mortal is used to being sold to – commercials, pop-up ads, kiosks in the mall, and in some cases, fellas on corners waving signs and dressed like the Statue of Liberty.
I am a Muse Broker. See what I did there. My dad was a real estate broker –and I am a Muse broker. I’ll give you a minute for that to sink in.
So THEREfore, modern day mortals, need modern day muses who can sell them on their brilliance, And it doesn’t cost money! Just some willingness, focus, and a little action and practice. Showing up is a good thing.
Jill Badonsky is my alter-ego and she wrote a Directory of Muses called The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard)! Everyone needs a bodyguard for their creativity.
There’s a Modern Day Muse for every block the modern day mortal has:
- There’s one who helps you pay attention to what you do right: Ahaphrodite.
- Another one that helps with you if you are overwhelmed or avoiding work: Marge
- Another one helps you have fun in the process: Bea Silly.
- They’re all in this book, The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard)
You can learn to facilitate groups based on these Muses for fun, joy and another stream of income. There are trainings twice a year. Learn about those here.
“Muse” in this regard is used to describe a relationship with the creative self. You can either listen to the voices of fear and the ego which tend to berate us, tell us we aren't good enough, and compare us to others. Or you can remember who you are and use self-talk to your creative success and happiness. The goal of having a creative principle as a Muse, is to generate and/or activate thoughts and techniques that make creativity easier and life more fulfilling.
The personification of principles as Muses calls upon the same imagination, playfulness, and kid-like spirit that is important in the creative process. However, if you are not drawn to the whimsical nature of a Muse, don’t throw the creative principles out with the whimsy. Each Muse represent a powerful creative tool and strategy that can be used without the Muse label.
Principles and their personified Muse in a nutshell:
1. Aha-phrodite, The Muse of Paying Attention
Paying attention is crucial to the mindfulness that is vital to both creativity and happiness.
2. Albert, The Muse of Thinking Differently:
The ability to think and be differently differentiates the idea, the process and the person from everyone else.
3. Bea Silly, The Muse of Play and the Kid-like Spirit:
Playing with ideas and taking a light, uninhibited approach is essential to the different stages of the creative process.
4. Muse Song, The Muse of Self-Kindness:
Self-talk that elicits creative action is required for successful creativity. This voice provides techniques that elevate the creative self rather than diminishes it. It reminds us to surround ourselves with those people who believe in us.
5. Spills, The Muse of Practice, Process and Imperfection:
Giving oneself permission to be imperfect, to lower standards, to relax into the process are all techniques that continues to prove to be effective to those with procrastination, fear, perfection and overwhelm issue. When practice is understood as essential and is made easy and enticing - progress and joy are inevitable.
6. Audacity, The Muse of Courage and Uninhibited Uniqueness:
Courage, confidence, liberation from the opinions of others = creative freedom and is the fuel to take occasional grand leaps into creative endeavors (followed up by small steps). Audacity is the voice of believing in our unique authenticity enough not to be hindered by others.
7. Lull, The Muse of Taking Breaks:
Do not underestimate the importance of taking a break, allowing subconscious connections to take place during inactivity, taking stock of gratitude, allow connections to take place and dappling in other areas.
8. The Shadow Muse, The Muse with Gifts From the Darkside:
This principle is the technique of understanding our dark sides for their potential to inspire art, for the freedom it gives us to accept ourselves as human apologetically for the understanding, compassion and connection
9. Marge, The Muse of Getting Started:
One must actually show-up and engage in the process for creativity to happen. Small steps, structure, classes, partnering, creativity-coaching, all these things give the sometimes distracted creative seeker a container in which to thrive. (Marge is named after the sheriff in the film Fargo).
10. The Bodyguard:
Because of all the detractors to the creative process, there needs to be a willingness to ruthlessly protect the idea, the intention, and the time set aside for its work. This voice engages awareness of detractors and teaches how to employ the skills to overcome their disabling effect.
Based on the book, The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard): 10 Guides to Creative Inspiration by Jill Badonsky (originally published by Penguin/Putnam) which is filled with stories, rituals and exercises to make these helpful voices a part of your daily repertoire. Rights were purchased by the Modern Day Muses themselves for the 3rd edition
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"O! for a muse of fire, that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention."
~William Shakespeare
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