An Unlikely Muse: Inspiration from the Ordinary

Ever since my early teens, when I first became aware of it, I’ve always struggled with the notion of The Muse. For me, it was as inaccessible as it was cliched. It conjured up images of unshaven, greasy-haired, tortured writers drinking whisky and chain-smoking cigarettes while waiting for divine inspiration. Sadly, I bought into it for a while. I was young, foolish and impressionable, desperate to be seen as a writer, live the writer’s life, and do the things writers were supposed to do. 

Thankf...