My muse has a mullet and shoulder pads
As you know, I did not like (nor finish reading) Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love. But I did enjoy listening to her ruminate on creativity for 20 minutes.
I certainly attribute my propensity for words to something inside me and y’know, that’s a lot of pressure that I really don’t need. The idea of the inspiration and ideas coming from somewhere outside instead of somewhere inside appeals to me. As Gilbert states, it kind of gets us off the hook. If we’re really successful we can’t take all the credit, but if we aren’t, it’s not entirely our fault. Not my fault? I’m loving that. I also see how this premise goes along with things I already do — having a desk and a lovely space to write, a comfortable chair, a hot cup of coffee, special photos etc. Maybe it’s not me that I’m wooing into service — maybe it’s a muse. A separate being with ideas he’s willing to share, just with me, if I’m open to it. And when I thought about who this might be I didn’t picture an ethereal being with a long flowing dress — I sort of pictured Billy Ray Cyrus from the early 90′s. The personality that would kick my ass into gear would be edgy and cavalier one coupled with humor. It would not be a sweet and whispering muse. I’d end up bitch-slapping that kind of muse. I respond to directness and honesty and this muse would swing his legs over the side of a big chair in my office space and spew ideas. I’d catch them with one hand — and that would be my job — to be there to catch what he was willing to toss my way. And like Gilbert says, my job would be to show up — to write and write and rewrite even when the muse is on vacation.
Enticing one’s muse or genius or inspiration starts with a simple action of being present — and can be completely void of atmosphere. What it can’t be void of is your honest intention and an authentic openness. Although I’m sure having a chair your muse can hand his legs over doesn’t hurt.
I am enjoying the notion that my inspiration is external and not internal – that I can attribute my “way with words” to someone or something else. How about you?
This is just me, but I firmly believe that my creativity comes from (what I believe to be) the most Creative One of All – God. I look around at nature and how the world works (even how the human body works) and the creativity just blows me away.
But that’s me.
Amy, when I saw your post title I GUFFAWED. You are so frekin’ funny. Thanks for being that. I needed something to perk me up.
Now about the Gilbert event. I watched it for a second time this morning, just so I’d glean something more, allowing me the ability to express my thoughts more clearly, as follows. (Here goes…)
Not to take away from her success, but in all honesty, it’s not a muse, or genius, or praising some netherworld being that made her book a best seller, imo – it’s luck, timing, and of course, a half-way decent voice. Never having read her, I can’t comment on her voice, but I believe luck and timing are key factors. And if she appeared on Oprah probably helped. (Did she?)
Melissa,
I know that many believe as you do — and it’s something I’ve not considered. I’m personally comfortable with the idea of a personal muse, at least today.
Kathy,
Glad I perked you up! Yes, Gilbert was on Oprah – maybe even twice as Oprah is a huge fan. I did like the voice in the book, and thought Gilbert to be a good story teller. But as a divorced woman, like Gilbert, I had trouble reading about being easily able to leave life behind and go on an all-expenses-paid trip around the world with the purpose of finding oneself and writing about it, for six-figures. I can’t go to the movies without someone calling or texting me. So it was not the messenger so much as the message. I also think that she is now looked at as a guru — and I don’t understand that. To me that’s a little like the mommy blogosphere where everyone with a uterus is an expert on parenting!
I passed on her book. I’ve already been through hell and back several times, minus a trip around the world. It sucked. I got over it. But, that said, a six figure contract to write a book about it would’ve been nice.
Who hasn’t had a lousy relationship, crappy divorce? It’s not a novelty, but maybe I shouldn’t be judgmental having not read the book. Maybe she coped differently with her crappy life experience.
And now she can write about how to cope with having to deal with success, or the lack thereof, whatev…
I wonder if she made it all up like James Frey? Nah, just kidding. All lives are both a work of fiction, especially in places where we may be guilty of something that scratches the surface of who we project ourselves to be. I wonder who the really Debbie is. I don’t think she’s that chick on stage or the one in her book. Then again, does anyone really care? Probably not. Next year she’ll be replaced by Oprah’s newer even more plastic model. It’s like a factory over there at the ‘O’ program. I don’t know why but it makes me think of Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz in the chocolate factory.
Kathy, you’re so right and so funny. Perhaps if her next book fails (and I don’t wish that on any writer) it will give her something new to write about.
Val, it is like a machine — although I admit that I’d love to ride the wave of what Oprah loving my book would mean. I know many don’t feel that way. Guess it’s the same with publishing — I’m going to try the mainstream route until I’m exhausted, before I go for something else.
I believe my inspiration is internal. I’ve tried to attach an image to her (or maybe it’s a him) but so far nothing has stuck. Perhaps I need to look at a different decade.
First, I also loved EG’s speech AS WELL AS her book! How could you not?? Sorry, a lot of her book really resonated with me but I loved her writing too. She was just so…real. You are the first person I ever heard of that didn’t like her book.
Love your muse and for all the reasons you state. I’ll have to think about what form my external muse would take. Interesting idea to attach an image to the concept.
Thanks for the video and the prompts to dig deeper into Ms. Gilbert’s message.
I also am not a huge fan of “”Eat, Pray, Love,” although I did find some things in it enjoyable. It was too self-absorbed, as so many books of that ilk are. But, hey, if someone offered me six figures … (hell, I’d be OK with five!)
I enjoyed the video and what she had to say (although I think she’s wrong about what her dad and other techies experience — they fail over and over again and then learn from the failures until they get it right. That’s their “muse,” perhaps). Showing up is the key, not just to your work but to your relationships and to your life. It seems like a no-brainer, and yet we often aren’t present in those things, just going through the motions. But if we’re not, we should ask why. Did we pick the wrong thing? Or have we just stopped caring?