“Receiving unexpected poetry means someone is paying attention.”
~April Mae Monterrosa
Two finches are performing for an audience member that would like to eat them. The birds peck at sunflower seeds in a transparent acrylic bird-feeder suction-cupped to the other side of my window so the cats can watch (and no birds are harmed). Sunshine, the Siamese is motionless, preparing for another futile ambush. Her instinct makes her do it.
Max, my other cat, lies in between my legs. He notices the finches, but unlike the Siamese he relaxes and purrs like a muffled outboard motor engine. Max’s breed has different wiring. He’d rather be comfortable and cuddled than in ambush.
My instinct is to write. It’s a passion of mine. Sometimes I succeed in ambushing it when I’m paying attention and mostly to amuse myself. It’s a passion of mine.
Aha-phrodite, the Muse of Paying Attention and Passion, tells us creativity is not possible without paying attention. In the creative process, attention paying is the scaffolding for:
- Ideas triggered by visuals, random thoughts, memories, and what’s right in front of us and making sure we capture them by taking notes. (Aha!)
- When and what makes us feel most creative.
- What we love about the process Associations, memories, word and image connections that trigger ideas.
- Which idea or step from our list energizes us the most.
- What’s working for us now and, when stumped, revisiting what worked in the past.
- Remembering anything a mentor or fan of ours has said about our creativity that might fuel our confidence, inspiration, and persistence.
Paying attention to these things is essential for creative progress. This is what I teach in the Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching Certification training along with the principles from the other eight Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard).
Start “write “now. Pay attention to and narrate out loud, what’s in front of you by filling in the sentence: I notice … over and over. Then follow your instincts as to where the writing takes you next. If you’re an artist, take one minute and sketch one thing you see.
The Reason A podcast I did almost a year ago, about paying attention and the reason I got married in my sixties.
Stay tuned for Pay Attention fuel this week and meeting Albert, The Muse of Thinking Differently next week.
Dispatching Muses for your Creative Pleasure,
Jill
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